When did I draw the short straw at life?
by zina-shipper-2016
Summary: Tina, Gene and Louise have all grown up and finished high school. This is basically theirs and their friends story as they sail through the messy complicated waters of life. Will Tina find her soul mate? Will Gene become recognised for his musical talent? And will Louise finally succeed in stealing the restaurant from under her parents noses? All inside!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first Bob's burgers fanfic (and my first ever one) and it's basically about the Belcher kids and their lives after high school. I've added my own OC's into the story and tried to keep it as close to the series as I can. Please review what you think! Disclaimer: I don't own Bob's Burgers all I own is my OC's.**

 **Chapter One: How Not To Treat A Customer**

'Who ever said that ''College days were the best days of your life'' was a liar.'

Tina didn't even look up from her laptop where she was busy typing out the plot twist to her latest story. Louise had a habit of complaining about the difficulties of college. Or the difficulties of work. Or the difficulties of being 5'4''. Or – well these days Louise just liked to complain full stop. Tina was so used to it by this point that she didn't even look up from what she was doing when giving out advice to her younger sister.

'I thought you liked college. You're always going on about how great your classes are, and how you able to scam more people and how great it is that Mr. Frond isn't there-' 'Yeah Tee and all that stuff is true!' Louise interrupted not willing to listen to another lecture 'but the problem is that most people there are always going out to the Wharf or laser tag and all these cool parties; I see the photos everywhere and everyone's talking about it, but I can't take part because these things cost money to do. **Or** a car to get there and I have neither!'

Tina decided to finally glance up from her laptop to where her younger sister was moodily leaning against the coffee shop counter. At this time in the morning there weren't a lot of people present so both girls were able to relax a bit – Tina by making progress on finishing her latest novel and Louise by moaning about her lack of money and wheels.

Tina narrowed her eyes trying to judge if Louise was being serious, before deciding to give a bit of tough love. 'When did that ever stop you? You're Louise Belcher for crying out loud! When you were fifth-teen you stole Jimmy Pesto's car to go to a Boo Boo concert! That was six hours away! You payed for your ticket by cutting off locks of Andy and Ollie's hair and selling it online claiming it were celebrities' hair! You snuck past giant muscular body guards just to do a hat-trick with slapping that poor boy! I think college has made you soft Miss Belcher!'

Louise's jaw dropped open but when no sound escaped it, she shut her mouth. Was it true? Was she simply going soft? Was she too focused on working hard and studying that she'd forgotten that there were quicker and less honest ways of making money? Louise dropped her head into hands from the shame and groaned. 'Oh God, Tee your right! I was too focused on my coursework that –' 'Heavens do my ears deceive me? Is Louise Belcher actually talking about college coursework?' A cold heavy dread then replaced the blood in Louise's veins as she lifted her head from her hands and looked into the eyes of one of her greatest enemies. One she thought she left behind when she graduated high school.

A year had passed since she last saw Philip Frond at her graduation; when she had spray-painted 'LOSER' onto his car wind-screen with spray paints. He looked remarkably unchanged since then only wearing a naff Hawaiian shirt and green khaki shorts and gross open-toe sandals instead of his disgusting green sweater, white shirt, brown pants and tie combination from when she was at school. 'Well Louise this is a surprise! I had no idea you went onto college after you graduated! How is it? What are you studying? Do you like it?' Mr Frond asked excitedly. He genuinely seemed interested about Louise's life and by the look on his face; he seemed to have forgiven her for what had happened at her graduation. Even though Louise hadn't been a bit sorry for her actions either back then or now. 'Business' Louise said shortly, trying to end the conversation quickly. She did not want to talk about her life with the man she greatly despised. She glanced at Tina, hoping for some form of back-up but Tina had put her head-phones on and seemed oblivious to what was happening. 'What can I get you?' she added stiffly.

'A green tea, please. Oh Louise, I'm glad that you decided to apply yourself and to do something with yourself after high school. For a while I was worried that-' Louise had tuned Frond out after that, she had heard enough of his lectures when she was at school, especially during her senior year where she got them at least twice a week. Louise hadn't paid a bit of notice back then and she wasn't about to start now. Thankfully the noise of the kettle and the mugs made it easy to drown Frond out. It wasn't until she was pouring hot water over the tea-bag that she heard something she couldn't believe.

'- Of course you've decided to pursue further knowledge and not end up a burger flipping nobody like your father in his greasy run-down restaurant-'. Spinning around with Frond's drink in her hand she slammed it down onto the counter and leaned forward giving him a death glare. 'Care to repeat what you just said about my dad and his restaurant?' Louise snarled. Frond warily took a step back, but unfortunately continued to talk.

'W-well Louise it's just th-that I wouldn't c-call your fathers restaurant up-scale as well as the fact that he decided not to go to college so i-i-it's only natural to expect that he didn't accomplish much and became a deadbeat-'. At that remark Louise saw red. 'Oi Frondy the only deadbeat I know is standing right in front of me, who never became anything in his life and has words like 'loser' spray-painted onto his car!'

At that moment if Frond's jaw could drop any lower it would be completely detached from his body altogether. 'Louise, I didn't mean anything wrong I was-'. Frond didn't get the chance to finish what he saying as Louise then flung his drink at his chest, causing the burning liquid to splash onto his neck, shirt and arms. 'Oh Mr Frond I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to hurt you. Silly me!' Louise cackled as Mr Frond ran out of the shop crying.

'Louise what the hell?!' Louise jumped as a furious Tina appeared where Mr Frond was just a moment before. 'Ah Tee, how much of that did you see?' Louise asked; realising that hadn't been her smartest move ever. 'Oh just the bit where you threw a boiling drink over Mr Frond' Tina said coldly.

'Come on Tee, he had it coming, you should have heard all those things he was saying about Dad!' Louise cried out, not willing to go down without a fight. 'Louise' Tina said tiredly 'people who hate Mum and Dad come in here all the time – Jimmy Pesto, Chuck Charles, Mr and Mrs Cranwinkle and they all make jabs, but you just got to ignore them! What if Mr Frond reports this to the health inspector? Or to the Consumer Association? I could get in so much trouble!' Tina stressed.

Louise immediately felt guilty. She knew Tina had her work cut out with both running the shop and finishing her novels. She knew from growing up in a struggling restaurant that running a business was hard work, yet Tina didn't complain and actually seemed to enjoy it. Seashore Bliss was much busier than Bob's Burgers was so it was especially hard to keep things running smoothly. Now it seemed that Louise's actions could land Tina in a whole lot of trouble; both with Hugo and the Consumer Association.

'Oh God Tina, I'm so sorry. Let me make it up to you.' 'No' Tina blurted out 'Louise with all due respect, please don't interfere. I think you should go back to the restaurant. I can manage here.'

'But-'Louise started. '

'Just go, Louise please' Tina stated running around the counter to take Louise's place.

'Fine' Louise said accepting defeat. 'I'll see you tomorrow then Tee' she said while walking out of the coffee shop. If Tina replied it was lost on Louise's ears as she turned to walk down towards the Wharf. Ten years hadn't made much difference on the amusement park. It was still run down, seedy and employed criminals to run the rides. The only difference was that the rides were ten years older.

A lot had happened over the past ten years, Louise thought as she headed down the Wharf towards her families restaurant. But at least the Wharf stayed the same. When she was on those rides she could pretend just for a few minutes that she was nine years old and carefree again; not nineteen and with a whole lot of responsibilities. The past ten years had also changed her siblings and their friends. For better or worse, Louise wasn't sure.

Tina had gone straight to Huxley High School after graduating from Wagstaff. High school was immediately better than Wagstaff had been due to the fact that Tammy wasn't there. She had gone to a private boarding school a couple of towns over. Her first week there she had joined a creative writing class and all the other nerds and dorks there, whether they were freshman or seniors accepted her immediately. At Halloween her freshman year the biggest bombshell hit the school: one of the most popular girls at school Jocelyn came out as a lesbian. Of course Jocelyn was immediately cast out as a nobody until Tina came to her defence by kissing her in front of a group of bullies. The two girls then entered a fake relationship that lasted the whole freshman year. At the end of the year, Jocelyn got back into the cool crowd and the two girls ended their 'relationship' with Jocelyn and Tina becoming best friends. She then had a lot of relationships with both boys and girls throughout high school but never got back with Jimmy Jnr – she had heard him slagging her off to her then boyfriend during her junior year. Tina continued to write short stories and novels, throughout high school, winning tons of awards and eventually received a complete scholarship to study journalism at Seymour Bay Community College. During her freshman year she met this old lady called Claire who was struggling to pick up her groceries from when her bags had ripped open on the sidewalk. She helped her home and the two struck up a friendship; with Tina helping Claire at her coffee shop and home any chance she got as Claire was all alone. Eventually Claire died three months before Tina's graduation and left everything to her – including the coffee shop which she decided to keep the name of 'Seashore Bliss' in Claire's memory. She continued her writing and published her first book when she was in her second year of college and was currently in the works of finishing the final book in the series.

Gene had never gotten back together with Courtney. Just before they had gone into high school they had both come out as gay – everybody had been a bit surprised at Courtney coming out as nobody really expected it. And throughout high school they stayed best friends and each other's wingman/women. During Gene's freshman year he then entered a relationship with Lenny DeStefano which lasted two years and ended the summer before Gene went into junior year; he had walked in on Lenny in bed with some other guy during a party. He poured his heart break into songs and musicals that he wrote and produced throughout school and by the time his graduation rolled around he was offered a job as junior music producer at their local news station. He went straight into the job, deciding against college and seems to love every minute of working there.

Louise, herself on the other hand decided to avoid relationships altogether during high school despite many boys asking her out – it was just too much drama. She decided to focus her energy into money-making schemes. She still used Andy and Ollie as her pawns for pulling them off, but also decided to take them under her wing as apprentices and defended them from bullies – especially during high school. Her friendship with Jessica continued to develop and when they were twelve years old they 'officially' became 'best friends'. When she was sixteen her worse nightmare came through when Mr. Frond transferred to Huxley High School and their feud continued ending once Louise graduated. She also never gave up her pink bunny ears – instead getting rid of her pigtails and replaced her green dress with jeans, t-shirts and hoodies. She managed to be accepted into the business course at Seymour's Bay Community College but had to work at both the restaurant and the coffee shop **and** to do odd jobs around the town to pay for her tuition. She was the only Belcher still living at home as she just couldn't afford to move out.

'Still' Louise told herself as she walked down the street where her family's restaurant was located. 'Just three more years then you'll have finished your course, graduated and you'll be able to take over the restaurant and put mum and dad in a nursing home.' Looking around to make sure that nobody heard her, Louise smiled to herself. Soon all the hard work would pay off and she'll be able to take over the restaurant.

Just as she was about to reach the restaurant she paused to survey the outside. Ten years had really put a downer on the place making it look worse than it was when she was nine if that was possible. On the other side of the street Jimmy Pesto's looked exactly the same as it was a decade earlier – only with a new coat of paint. Louise hesitated before going inside – she really didn't want to face the wrath of her parents when they find out she threw a boiling drink over Mr Frond or that she potentially got Tina in trouble with Hugo; but knowing they were going to find out sooner or later and that it was probably better if they heard it from her first, she took a deep breath before pushing the door open and going inside the little bell tingling in her wake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Same Milk Aisle, Different Belcher**

 **Yay -second update! What do you think so far? Please remember to review. Disclaimer: I don't own Bob's Burgers, all I own is my OC's**

The restaurant was almost empty when Louise entered, save for their two regulars Mort and Teddy. Her parents were nowhere in sight.

'Hey Louise' Teddy greeted 'how are you?' 'Oh I've been better Teddy' Louise admitted, jumping up onto one of the stools by the counter. 'Where are my parents?' she added looking around.

'Your dad's fixing up our lunch and your mum's on the phone to her friend Ginger' Mort stated taking another sip of his coffee. 'You look upset Louise, what happened?' Teddy asked, ever inquisitive and ever willing to help the Belchers no matter what the situation. 'Is some boy giving you grief? If he is I'll pound him,' Teddy growled, his protective 'Uncle Teddy' side coming out.

'Whoa whoa what's all this about a pounding?' Linda said coming out of the kitchen with two plates of burgers and chips and her phone held between her shoulder and her ear. 'What? Oh not you Ginger sorry, look I'm going to have to go. I think Louise is up to something. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, love you, bye!'

'Relax Mum, I'm not going to get Teddy to pound someone' Louise said rolling her eyes at her mum's long and unnecessary dramatic goodbye.

'Well, why are you here? How come you're not at work?' Linda asked, setting down Teddy and Mort's meals in front of them and turning to face Louise. 'What did you do, missy?' Linda asked suddenly stern.

Louise held up her hands in defeat. 'Okay Mum before you flip out, I think you should first hear my side of–'

'Side of what?' Bob asked sticking his head out of the hatchway. 'Oh my God, Louise what did you do?' Bob groaned when he saw his youngest child and started to feel just like he did when he and Linda got called into the school due to the stunts the kids (mostly Louise) pulled.

And here Bob was kidding himself that he'd never have to experience that feeling again once Louise graduated high school. Fate must be having a good laugh at him now.

'Ok' Louise said feeling that it would be better to get all her cards on the table first. 'First things first, I did what I did because I was defending dad.' 'Louise what did you do?' Linda probed, poking her daughter in the chest trying to get her to crack.

'Well I was working at the coffee shop with Tina, when Mr Frond came in and started to insult Dad and the restaurant, calling him a deadbeat and a burger-flipping nobody and I sort of lost my temper and flung his drink at him. Tina then got mad at me and made me leave' Louise admitted all in one breath. 'Aawww my little baby, sticking up for her father, how sweet!' Linda gushed. 'Frond called Bob and his restaurant what now?' Teddy growled, getting defensive that some jerk was insulting his best friend and his favourite restaurant.

'Wait didn't Tina say anything to Frond?' Bob asked confused, finding it hard to believe that his eldest daughter wouldn't stick up for him if some jerk started to insult him in her own business. 'She didn't hear him' Louise admitted, deciding to omit the part that people often insulted him often, 'and she's stressed that Mr Frond might report what happened to Hugo.'

'Oh God Hugo' Bob groaned. That man loved to make Bob's life a misery and his goal was to shut down his restaurant; he'd probably settle for annoying Bob by proxy by making Tina's life a misery.

'Alright everyone calm down' Linda said trying to stop her husband, daughter and Teddy from going out and confronting Mr Frond. 'Mr Frond might not report what happened to Hugo.' 'But what if he does Lin?' Bob groaned, rubbing his temples. 'Hugo would jump at any chance to annoy me.'

'Well we'll have to make sure he won't blab then' Linda decided. 'Are you suggesting that we kidnap him Linda?' Teddy asked seriously. 'No' Linda stated at the same time Louise screamed 'YES!'

'Well which is it?' a confused Mort asked. 'No' Bob stated, 'its no, we're not kidnapping him.' 'Oh come on' Louise groaned. 'No, no Louise, we're not kidnapping him, we'll just offer him free food at the restaurant for a month if he promises not to tell Hugo' Bob stated, hoping this would be enough to stop the whiny guidance counsellor from ratting Louise and Tina out. Even if it did result in lost profits.

'And you missy are going to apologise to your sister' Linda said pointing at Louise.

'I already did, but she wouldn't listen' Louise said defensively. 'Well apologise again, but wait a couple of hours for her to cool down and bring some candy or notebooks or something with you when you do, to show you really mean it' Mort added. 'Works for when I want to say sorry to my mother.'

'Hmm I think you're on to something Mort' Louise said with a smirk on her face. Leaning over the counter quickly, she opened the till and pulled out twenty dollars. 'Thanks for the money guys, now I'm going to buy Tina's forgiveness, see you later!' Louise cackled as she ran out of the restaurant.

'Can you stop by Fresh Feed to buy milk – we're all out! Bob called after her. After hearing a 'will do!' from his daughter he turned his attention back to the grill.

'So we're not doing the kidnapping?' Teddy said, interrupting the silence that followed after Louise's exit. 'We're not kidnapping him Teddy' Bob confirmed. 'Oh okay' Teddy said accepting the answer and turned his attention back to finishing his lunch in peace.

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Louise walked down the aisles of Fresh Feed quickly, hoping to get in and out quickly. She decided on getting a horse covered notebook and a box of chocolates to make it up to Tina. Although she knew Tina would be happy with a genuine apology, she decided to go with Mort's advice of bearing gifts in case Tina saw through her 'apology'. She immediately started to think about how she was going to form her forgiveness speech.

It's got to be the perfect mix of formal and causal, Louise thought as she approached the milk aisle. If it's not, she'll see right through it and then she may cut back my hours – and I can't afford to lose them. Well she was probably going have to wing the apology, luckily Tina was a pushover and Louise may be able to manipulate her into thinking her apology was sincere. 'Finally' Louise gasped as the milk aisle came into view. What genius had the bright idea to put essentials like the milk and bread at the back of the shop, Louise had no idea. Reaching for a carton of milk, she just grasped the handle at the same time another hand did as well.

'Hey what's the big idea, it's mine!' Louise snapped. 'Ok sorry' a voice laughed 'wait . . . aren't you Tina's sister?' Glancing up Louise looked up into twinkling brown eyes, which came with a kind face and a tall, lean body. 'Hey it's you' Louise replied uncertainly. She couldn't remember who this person was for the life of her. But he knew her.

'It's Josh, remember?' he probed 'I went out with your sister. We actually first met here.'

Memories then flooding back to Louise: how Tina had come to them upset because she met her 'soulmate' on opposite side of the fridge aisle, but didn't get to see his face, all she got was a plaster. She remembered helping Tina look for said soulmate by sticking posters up around the neighbourhood and then when she found him by kissing him in the middle of the dairy aisle. She also remembered Jimmy Jr getting really jealous and paying Gene and her to help win Tina back.

'Oh yeah Josh, the ballet dancer right?' Louise replied. Josh nodded in confirmation. 'How'd you recognise me, we haven't seen each other in years?' Louise asked confused. Josh chuckled slightly. 'Well those ears are one of a kind, I haven't seen anything close to them ever!' he laughed reaching over and pulling gently on one of them. Louise immediately slapped his hand away. 'Okay twinkle-toes, first things first: nobody touches the ears, that includes you, got it?' she growled holding a fist up for good measure. Josh held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. 'Ok Louise sorry, I wasn't going to take them or anything. I won't do it again, I promise.'

Louise relaxed at that last remark. Her ears were incredibly precious to her. She got then on her first birthday and had never taken them off since. She had only been separated from her ears once in her life, when Logan Bush had stolen them when she was nine. She had nearly gone crazy without them and set a biker gang on the terrified teen as revenge when she thought that he had destroyed them. Once she got them back nothing was able to convince her to take them off. Even for prom and graduation she still wore them ignoring her mum's pleas. Still better to be safe than sorry when some crazy person thought they had the right to touch her ears.

'So how's your sister?' Josh asked eagerly. 'Is she still living around here? What's she been doing?'

Damn, Louise thought, ten years and he's still into her. A wicked plan then began to form in Louise's head on just how she could make it up to Tina on the whole Mr Frond incident.

'Yeah, she still lives around here. Doing great. She's running the coffee shop 'Seashore Bliss' have you heard of it? She's not seeing anyone by the way.' Louise added mischievously.

'That's great!' Josh said happily, before turning bright red. 'I-I mean i-it's great th-that's she's d-doing good, n-not that-' Josh stammered. 'Yeah, I know what you mean Josh' Louise said winking 'why don't you stop by the place sometime? I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you.'

Josh smile then grew three times its original size. 'Yeah I will, thanks Louise, here you go' he said handing her the carton of milk they had both been going for. 'Thanks ballet – boy, see you later!' she called already half-way down the aisle.

Perfect, she was setting Tina up with a guy that was obviously still into her; now Tina had to forgive her for what happened earlier. Louise smile faltered a bit though when she remembered exactly what happened the last time somebody set Tina on a date without her knowledge: It was her first year in college and her current girlfriend had just dumped her, so Tina was pretty miserable. Feeling terrible for her friend, Jocelyn set Tina up on a blind date with one of her classmate's brother. The date was a disaster. The guy was a strict vegan, who went off in a rant when Tina mentioned that she grew up in a burger restaurant, the date grew worse when he said he disapproved of any form of writing that wasn't political manifestos or pamphlets on why people should turn vegan. The final straw came when he said that if he had his way he'd ban coffee, which did not go down well for coffee-addict, fiction-writing Tina. She bailed early and spent the following hour, yelling at Jocelyn for not knowing anything about the guy when she set them up and essentially giving her 'the date from hell'. She didn't speak to Jocelyn for an entire week after that despite Jocelyn's frenzied apologies and to this day she wasn't allowed to set Tina up with anybody.

Still, Louise reasoned as she joined the queue to pay for her groceries. This was different. Tina knew Josh and he obviously still liked her. It did look like that relationship was going places when she was younger, before Jimmy Jr had ruined it obviously and last time she checked Josh didn't hate meat, writing or coffee although that might have changed. As the cashier ran her groceries over the scanner she decided to only give Tina the notebook for the Frond incident and keep the chocolates hidden for now. If the thing with Josh went south and Tina found out that she set it up; she'd need another apology gift. If everything went great then she'll eat the chocolates herself. For her own sake though she hoped it went well, she was probably already on thin ice with Tina for what happened earlier with Mr Frond, she definitely didn't want to put any more pressure on that ice.

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The next day, Louise headed to the coffee shop with the notebook in hand, mentally prepping herself for the apology she'd have to give and the grovelling she'd have to do to convince Tina not to cut her hours. At least she had a bribe with her.

When she entered the shop, she was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee beans and laughter. The laughter was coming from one of the sofas where Tina, Jocelyn and their friends Kim (a nurse at the local hospital and Jocelyn's girlfriend) and Phoebe (a local mechanic with a sharp sense of humour) were sitting. Taking a deep breath, Louise strolled over with what she hoped was a remorseful look on her face.

'Hey Tee' she said when she reached the edge of the sofa. 'Oh hey Louise' Tina greeted happily, her eyebrows rose when she saw the notebook. 'Come to grovel for my forgiveness?'

'Yeah' Louise admitted, taking a deep breath she continued with the apology, 'Tee, I'm really, really sorry for what happened. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I was mad at Mr Frond and I didn't intend to get you in trouble with Hugo, please forgive me.'

'I'll forgive you if you take over from Lucy right now; I don't think she's knows how to make coffee' Tina said. 'Deal' Louise said, giving her the notebook for good measure and running up to the counter. 'Hey Lucy, Tina doesn't need you any more, I'm here now so scram!' Lucy who couldn't be more than sixteen threw off her apron in relief and hurried out of the shop. Tina was probably right about the girl not being able to make coffee as the place was a mess. Louise set about cleaning the place up when Kim came up to pay for her latte.

'What's up with Tee? She's in a good mood' Louise said hoping it had something to do with Josh. 'Well you don't have to worry about Frond or Hugo right now, Tina sorted it' Kim said with a shrug. 'Really? What happened?' Louise asked surprised. 'Well she tracked him down to the hospital where I was treating him for his burns and begged him not to make a complaint. They eventually settled on a deal – a month of free drinks here, none of which would be served by you and he agreed not to complain. I think your parents offered him free food as well' Kim replied tipping her change back into her purse and heading back to her friends.

'Well I got to go, or else I'll be late for my shift, see you babe' Kim said to Jocelyn giving her a kiss on the lips. 'Bye Kim, see you tonight' Jocelyn said once they broke the kiss. 'See you Kim' Tina said getting off the couch and started to gather up the cups. 'Bye Kim' Phoebe said giving her a wave as Kim ran out of the shop.

'So I hear your off the hook with Mr Frond then' Louise said with a smirk as Tina came closer to the counter. 'Yeah but Louise I'm warning you, don't even think about pulling a stunt like that again or-' Tina didn't get a chance to continue with her lecture as Louise reached over and put her hand over her mouth. 'Tee, I give you my word, I'll never do something like that when I'm working here again' Louise promised solemnly. Tina could only nod as Louise's hand still covered her mouth.

'Tina?' a voice asked cutting into the sister's conversation. Louise removed her hand from Tina's mouth as her sister spun around- and was left speechless. Standing in the entrance of Seashore Bliss was Josh. He looked really happy to see her. Although with Tina's back to her, she couldn't really see whether or not she'll be handing over another apology gift by this evening.

'Josh, hi' Tina greeted in her monotone voice. In her mind Louise started to curse her sister; why did she have to talk like that? It made it impossible to tell how she was feeling at the best of times.

'How are you?' Josh asked eagerly. 'Good' Tina replied apparently in a state of shock.

'Heey' Louise said, coming around the counter to join her sister. 'Why don't you two kids go to a corner for a chat? It must have been ages since you've last seen each other. I bet you have so much to catch up on!'

Tina was still in a state of shock that all she could was nod. She didn't notice Louise's evil grin, or Josh's hopeful expression, or the fact that Jocelyn and Phoebe were still in the coffee shop and that they were taking pictures of the whole thing to send to Kim. All she could do was follow Josh to the corner of the shop and joined him on one of the sofas.

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'So Tina, what have you been up to?' Josh asked as they settled themselves down on the sofa, away from Louise, Jocelyn and Phoebe.

'Oh nothing much, I went to Seymour Bay CC, got a degree in journalism, I'm finishing writing up the last book in my series, running this place' Tina said trying to act casual, 'what about you? I haven't seen you in ages; are you still dancing?'

'Yeah I am' Josh beamed. 'After high school, I went to Julliard and I studied dance. Right after I graduated I got offered a job as one of the main dancers for 'Beauty and the Beast'. It played on Broadway for six months straight. I also worked on a ton of others Broadway shows as well: The Lion King, Cats, Grease, Guys and Dolls, Wicked' Josh said, ticking the musicals off on his fingers. 'I'm just taking a break for the summer; I'm due back in New York by September to get started on my latest musical 'Annie'.

'Wow that's amazing' Tina breathed, 'how long have you been back for?'

'Oh I just got back yesterday' Josh replied with a way of his hand. 'I'm renting one of the holiday apartments near the Wharf. I was actually in Fresh Feed yesterday; you know where we first met? And I bumped into Louise in the dairy fridge. We were both going for the same carton of milk.'

'Did you now?' Tina asked in her monotone voice – no wonder Louise was so eager for her to talk to Josh. She normally hated any form of romance; it was probably her idea of making it up to her for the Frond incident. 'And what did she say?' she added. 'Oh just to get my hands off her milk, never to touch the bunny ears and that you were running this place and that I should pop by sometime' Josh said with a smile.

Spinning her head around to face the counter Tina fixed Louise with what she hoped was a gaze that could kill her; but Louise was making a good show of pretending to look busy as she wiped the counter down over and over, avoiding her gaze. She knew Louise meant well by trying to set her and Josh up, but a little warning that a cute boy was going to pop by specially to see her would have been nice!

Turning around to face Josh again, Tina noticed Jocelyn and Phoebe out of the corner of her eye taking pictures of her and Josh together. Silently cursing herself for letting herself hang out with Josh with her nosy friends still in premises; Tina turned to face him with an apologetic smile. 'Sorry Josh I should get back to work, if I leave Louise near the cakes unsupervised for too long she'll probably eat every single one' Tina said starting to get off the sofa.

'Tina wait' Josh said getting off the sofa as well. 'I was wondering if you want to go out for a drink or a bite to eat sometime, I'm free almost all the time.' 'What like a date?' Tina asked. 'Yeah, as in a date' Josh said. 'I would really like to get to know you again Tina and Louise told me you weren't seeing anyone, so what do say?' Josh asked his face the living expression of hope.

Tina desperately tried to form a single thought in her train-wreck of a mind, but she was honestly speechless. It had been simply ages since she had asked out and now a cute boy from her past had shown up out of the blue (with a little help from Louise) and was asking her out on a date. She knew that Louise was watching what was happening with interest and that her friends were still taking pictures of the whole thing and Josh was still waiting for her answer. Tina then opened her mouth to reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone sorry it took so long to update. For a few days I was staying with my grandparents where there was no internet and then when we got back, my parents wouldn't let me onto the computer much. I also had to rewrite several scenes as they didn't fit into the story. However this is a really long chapter and Gene finally makes his long awaited appearance so I hope it makes up for the wait. Review please! Disclaimer: I don't own Bob's Burgers all I own is my OC's**

 **Chapter Three: Mates Before Dates**

'Yes' Tina blurted out before blushing red. 'Yeah Josh I would like to go on a date with you.'

Josh's face then broke into the biggest smile Tina had ever seen. 'That's great' he beamed 'are you free tomorrow evening? Around seven maybe?'

Tina hesitated; the coffee shop closed at seven and she was supposed to be going to her parents for Sunday night dinner; when she had first left home for college, her mother had demanded that she come home once a week for a family dinner and the tradition had continued ever since.

'Uuuuhhh' Tina moaned desperately trying to decide whether or not to face her mother's endless questions about why she was skipping their family's weekly tradition.

'Hey, what's this I hear about a date?' Louise smirked as she slid up to her sister's side. Tina wasn't sure if she was relieved or horrified that her sister had chosen that moment to get involved in the conversation. 'I was just asking her if she was free tomorrow at seven.' Josh replied oblivious to the fact that he had asked that question over a minute ago and still hadn't gotten an answer.

'Oh she is definitely free then' Louise smirked, ignoring Tina's squeak of protest. 'Where should she meet you?' she added.

'How about at the Wharf?' Josh suggested. 'She'll meet you there' Louise promised 'right Tee?' Tina managed a really small nod as a confirmation. 'Great I'll see you then Tina' Josh said with a smile as he started to leave the shop, blowing a kiss in Tina's direction as he did.

The second he left, Jocelyn and Phoebe jumped on Tina. 'Oh my god Tina, who was that?' Jocelyn squealed wanting to know everything that had just happened between her bestie and one of the cutest boys she had ever seen. 'That was Josh, we went out for a bit when I was thirteen' Tina replied, still trying to act casual. 'And newsflash ladies, she's going a date with him tomorrow' Louise announced happy that her plan to set Tina up had worked.

'Wow Tina, you work fast, you were only talking to the guy for fifth teen minutes – and you weren't even trying that hard from what I saw, imagine how fast you'd have a guy agreeing to a date when you were actually trying' Phoebe joked.

'Yeah just imagine' Tina said flatly, before holding out her hand 'and guys, give me the phones.'

'Why?' Jocelyn said innocently, while holding her phone out of Tina's reach. 'To delete the photo's I know you two took' Tina said flatly. She really wasn't in the mood for this. She now was going to have to dodge her mother's relentless questions and prying into her love life when she found out she would be missing Sunday night dinner, her friends had obviously taken photos of her exchange with Josh for the sole intention of sending them to everyone on their contacts list, she had no idea what to wear for the date and to top it all off she saw a trace of chocolate at the corner of Louise's mouth that hadn't been there when she entered the shop looking for forgiveness, confirming her fear that Louise was eating her stock with no intention of paying for them.

'Aw come on! I just want to show Kim!' Jocelyn pleaded, still holding her phone out of Tina's reach. 'Yeah and I want to show Robbie' Phoebe grinned. 'Delete them now' Tina ordered. 'Delete, delete, del- oops, looks like I pressed the wrong the wrong button! Looks like Kim will be informed of your new boyfriend' Jocelyn said with a smirk.

'Oops, looks like Robbie will be receiving some very interesting photos' Phoebe laughed, following Jocelyn's lead. 'Uuuuhhh' Tina groaned, not sure what she should do next; it was too late to stop Robbie and Kim from getting the pictures, but what if they girls were planning to send the pictures to other people as well? Desperate she looked to Louise for help.

'Alright ladies, you had your fun, now hand over the phones,' Louise ordered giving then her meanest expression. Louise may be much smaller than either girl as well as being four years their junior, but she was still pretty intimating and had both girls handing over their phones to her without another word (although Phoebe did roll her eyes) and deleted any traces of the photos. Handing the phones back, she laughed at Jocelyn's crushed expression, 'sorry ladies, but the only people allowed to tease Tina are me and Gene and neither of you look like a guy to me.'

'I think you mean an incredibly handsome, talented, gay guy' Gene corrected, swaggering into the coffee shop. At twenty-one Gene still retained his chubby figure from his childhood and still remained the enthusiastic, loud, over-dramatic and dim person he was when he was eleven. He was also still over attached to his keyboard (the latest model of course) which he claimed was for work purposes; if it wasn't for the fact that he was taller, his hair longer and that he dressed far more crazy then he did at eleven, one would say the past ten years haven't changed him a bit.

'So my lady posse' Gene said swinging an arm around both Phoebe's and Jocelyn's shoulder's; he then dragged them down onto the couch with him, the girls bouncing a bit with the speed that they went down onto the cushions. 'What's this I hear about teasing Tina?' he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. 'Tina's got a date!' Jocelyn blurted out, unable to keep a secret for longer than five seconds. Louise silently cursed Jocelyn for her shallowness and stupidity; not for the first time Louise wondered why Tina had Jocelyn as a best friend. You couldn't tell her anything important; ninety-five percent of the time if you did she'd spill it five minutes later. At least when you asked Jessica to keep a secret you'd know ninety-nine percent of the time she'll take it to the grave.

'Ooh Tina! Spill! Wait no! Tell me everything tomorrow so you, me and Mum can have a DMC* after dinner!' Gene rambled all in one excited breath. 'Uuuuhhh' Tina groaned, while Louise decided to bite the bullet and put her plan into action. Rolling her eyes, Louise jumped over the couch and onto Gene's lap, ignoring Jocelyn's and Phoebe's cries of pain when her flailing limbs hit them in the face. 'Actually Gene, the three of us are going to miss tomorrow's traditional family dinner' Louise said. Gene's following gasp of shock was so loud and deep, Louise was kind of surprised to find there was still air left on the planet. Several customers actually turned in their direction to see if something was wrong.

'How dare you' Gene gasped, holding one hand over his heart like he had just suffered a heart attack. 'Sunday night family dinner has been a family tradition for the past five years; Dad always makes a roast! And now you two just want to abandon that tradition?! I'll have no part in that!'

'But, Gene' Louise wedeled knowing she could have him agreeing to the plan in no time, 'we need you. Tina's first date with Josh is tomorrow night and we need your expert styling advice to make sure she looks fabulous! Don't you want her to look good?' 'Yeah Gene' Tina added, relieved that she may have some help with deciding what to wear for tomorrow night.

'Well my style is amazing; I mean to this day everybody remembers trashion! And I don't want my sister going on a date looking Ron Weasley from 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. Okay I'll help, but you two owe me a roast dinner!' Gene declared.

'Great!' Jocelyn squealed, 'we'll go over to Tina's at four so I can do her hair and make-up and Gene can sort through her clothes to find something worthy of being worn on a date and if we work hard we'll be able to get her ready by seven!'

'Oh come on, getting ready for a date won't take three whole hours! Louise interrupted believing Jocelyn was starting to take the mick. 'Ah Louise have you ever been on a date? You got to wash and dry your hair, style your hair, decide what make-up looks better for the date, apply the make-up onto your face, do your nails, decide what outfit is best suited for the date you're having, put on said outfit, decide on shoes and accessories, touch up your make-up and make sure you have everything you need for the date. You have to do all that and make sure you show up for your date on time! Actually maybe we should go over to Tina's at three, just to make sure that we're not rushed for time or anything' Jocelyn mused, her rant coming to an end. Louise couldn't even think of a come-back; she was so shocked the ditzy blond actually thought all of that work was necessary just for a couple of hours of hanging out with a guy (or girl in Jocelyn's and Kim's cases).

'Ah come on, that's rubbish! I hang with boys all the time! Seventy-five percent of my friends are boys! And not once when I was hanging out with them did I stress about whether they liked my outfit or my earrings were too much! Not once! And what about Phoebe? I have never seen her stressed about what to wear for a date with Robbie. Ever!' Louise ranted.

'That's different Louise' Gene stated 'first off their your friends, not boyfriends and chances are you wouldn't know romance even if it slapped you in the face. And even if you did know it you'd beat it up for slapping you in the face. Nothing wrong with it but you don't like romance in general. Secondly Phoebe and Robbie have been dating for almost eight years now; by that time whoever your seeing has seen the best of you and the worst of you. It's the first couple of months that all the effort into your appearance goes in.'

'Traitor!' Louise shrieked pointing an accusing finger at Gene. 'We're Belchers! You're supposed to have my back against her! And now you're going against me!'

'Guys maybe you could quite down a bit, we're getting a lot of attention' Phoebe intervened looking around the coffee shop. It was true; every head in the coffee shop was now looking in their direction watching the strange spectacle play out in front of them. Most of them were actually looking interested in the scene playing out like it was a play created for the sole purpose of their entertainment, while the rest were looking annoyed that a group of young adults were interrupting their morning cup of coffee.

'Ok enough' Tina said eager to wind the conversation down in case it drove off some of the other customers. 'Gene and Jocelyn, you two meet me at my apartment at three to help me get ready. Louise I need you to cover for me from half-two to closing tomorrow, ok?'

'Fine' Louise muttered, pretending to be upset but in reality she didn't mind working here at all. Tina paid her better than her parents did, she was helping Mort tomorrow morning for a couple of hours and then she could relax here and eat the cakes meant for the customers and if it meant that she'd earn Tina's forgiveness for the Frond incident and kept the chocolates for herself, she'd even accept no overtime pay. Besides, she thought to herself, now I can get started on my plan.

'What are we going to tell Mum and Dad?' Tina asked. 'I can't imagine they'll be pleased.' 'You leave that to me Tee' Louise said with a gleam in her eye 'I promise I'll sort it.' And with that the Louise went back to working behind the counter, while Tina made arrangements with Jocelyn and Gene for tomorrow, as Phoebe paid for her coffee and left to go back to work. The day was perfectly boring after that. The only thing that kept Louise from complaining was the fact that she was too busy putting the foundation of her plan into action.

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That night with both her parents asleep, Louise snuck into their room to grab the laptop that was on her mother's dressing table and snuck back into her own room. It took much longer than the simple snatch and grab she expected. Her mother was trying some knew protein shake diet that Gretchen had introduced her too. As a result she had much more energy for dancing and karaoke. One of the many downsides to it was that it messed with her sleep pattern making her a light sleeper and much more likely to wake up if Louise made the tiniest noise. But somehow a miracle happened: Louise managed to sneak in and out undetected. Not that Louise believed in miracles no, she credited her amazing sneaking abilities that were put to good use a lot; especially during her high school years when she was sneaking out of the house almost every night to go on prank escapades with the Pesto twins and Rudy if he was up to it (which despite his allergies to some of the materials they used in their pranks was most of the time).

That skill had amazing uses, Louise thought smugly as she settled back into her bed as the laptop whirled to life. While it was password protected Louise knew that her mum used the same password for everything so all she had to do was type in _'little king trash-mouth'_ and she was in. 'Really' Louise muttered to herself as she opened her mum's Facebook page; 'it's not even hacking she's made it so easy.' Louise had also watched her mother like a hawk all evening from the camera she had installed in the living room. The moment her mum had shut down the laptop she had sent a message to her mother, now all she had to do was answer it and make sure it looked like her mum had said was ok to miss tomorrow night's family dinner. Within a few minutes she had a full conversation typed out between her and 'Linda' on Facebook chat. Closing down the computer she snuck back into her parents and without any noise put the laptop right back where it originally was and snuck back out closing the door softly behind her.

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The next day after leaving the shop in the somewhat questionable hands of Louise, Tina headed back to her apartment. It was close enough to the pier the she got an amazing view of the ocean and Wonder Wharf, but far away for the tourist holiday apartments that she wouldn't have to put up with families moving in and out during the summer. She had moved in here just before the start of her second year of college and wouldn't dream of moving out. She got the most inspiration for her books when she was sitting out in her balcony watching the waves roll into shore and it was really calming to watch.

Gene and Jocelyn were already waiting for her inside when she got there; she had given Gene her spare key yesterday and the moment she entered the duo jumped into action. Sending Tina to wash her hair, Jocelyn continued to sort through Tina's make-up trying to decide what to use, while Gene continued searching through her wardrobe trying to find something appropriate for the date. By the time Tina had to go and meet Josh she had to admit that she looked amazing. Jocelyn who was a trained hairdresser and beautician had pinned her long hair to one side and it was all following curls. Tina had gotten rid of her bangs in high school instead going for a side fringe which Jocelyn had pinned back. Her make-up was simple and elegant, making her eyes look bigger than they were behind her glasses.

Despite Tina's fears that Gene would go for something neon coloured or crazy patterned, he actually picked something that was actually Tina's style. He'd found the dark blue dress that she had worn to her parents silver wedding anniversary last year. It had a knee-length A-line skirt, lace detail around the bodice, short puffy selves and a square neckline. After a quick iron it was perfect. Gene had paired the outfit with a long silver necklace, stud earrings, strappy black sandals and a dark blue clutch. In short Tina looked amazing – and felt like a princess.

'Guys I look amazing, thank you' Tina gushed still unable to believe her eyes. 'All my work is amazing sister! But even I got to admit, I outdid myself with this' Gene admitted as he looked his sister over one last time before Jocelyn gave Tina her bag and short black jacket. 'Better get going, you don't want to be late' Jocelyn teased with a smile. Smiling Tina then ran out the door with an excited Jocelyn and Gene following in her wake.

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Louise strolled down the street leading to the Wharf; she'd closed the coffee shop half an hour earlier today and was walking quickly towards the beach. That morning while she was helping Mort with the delivery of coffins she had gotten a text from Jessica saying that her and the others were meeting at the beach for a campfire and to make camp food that night. The text also asked if she was coming along with a quick line about how her and the others were missing her. Louise had texted back promising she'd be there. She was going for a number of reasons actually: 1) She hadn't seen her friends since summer started a month and a half ago and she missed them **_a lot_** (not she'll ever tell them that) 2) Jessica's campfire s'mores were amazing and 3) She didn't want to face her Mum's furious reaction when she read her Facebook and realised that none of her children were coming to the traditional family dinner. Louise was hoping to have a little fun with people who liked being part of her crazy schemes before she had to go home, face her parents and put the next part of her plan into action. For a couple of hours Louise wanted to be a careless college student for a bit, not a master planner and manipulator.

At that moment in time Louise's mind was so full of s'mores and scheming she almost walked straight into a pole. Stopping herself just in time Louise glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed the event – if they did she'd have to kill them before word got out, Louise Belcher did not do things like that! That's when she saw him: Josh. Dressed in a suit jacket with a shirt no less standing near the entrance to Wonder Wharf and looking around nervously. Just before he glanced her way and saw her, Louise ducked into an alleyway, counted to ten slowly in her mind and risked a peek out. Josh looked as nervous as hell and kept checking his watch. Why won't he relax? Louise thought as she resisted the urge to laugh at how desperate he was being; he's still got ten minutes before their supposed to meet. Just then however she spotted her sister strolling up to Josh with a nervous smile on her face.

Wow Louise thought silently as she gazed at her sister; now over her teenage years Tina had developed a pretty nice body and grew out of awkward stage just before high school becoming really pretty. Louise knew that with her sister's crazy quirkiness and individuality she would have been able to pull off one of Lady Gaga's outrageous outfits. But she actually looked amazing, not like a crazy person and Gene actually hadn't incorporated his style into it either; the entire outfit simply screamed Tina, a classy version of Tina.

'Spying are we sister dearest' Gene smirked jolting her out of her thoughts.

'Aaaahhh Gene don't do that! Louise screamed-whispered smacking him on the arm; hard enough to leave a bruise. 'Hey' Gene cried holding his arm. 'Ssshhh' Louise whispered pointing in the direction of Tina and Josh, 'they'll hear you.'

'I did an amazing job didn't I?' Gene said as they watched the two chat nervously. 'I mean all my work is amazing, but I outdid myself here. Maybe I should go into fashion, I guarantee you, I'll be a hit!'

'Yeah sure' Louise said only half-listening to Gene's rambling as Josh hailed a taxi and held the door open for Tina as she got in. As the taxi was passing them, Louise grabbed Gene and shoved themselves down behind some dumpsters, when it passed by them she straightened up again.

'So what are you doing tonight Gene?' Louise asked as the two of them strolled down the street.

'I'm meeting Courtney at that new bar 'The Red White and Brew**' on Main Street. Their cocktails are apparently the bomb! What about you, I assume you're not heading home.' 'Nah I'm heading to the beach for a campfire with Jessica and the others' Louise said. 'Well have fun! I'll tell Courtney you said hi.' 'But I didn't' Louise cried, but Gene was already halfway down Market Street and didn't seem to hear her. Sighing she continued walking until she reached the steps that lead to the beach and hurried down them heading towards the campfire that she could see in the distance.

Everything seemed underway by the time Louise got there but nobody seemed to notice her arrival as their backs were to the direction she came from. Smirking, she slowly started to approach the nearest person to her and then suddenly grab them from behind. 'Ggggggaaaahhhhh!' she shrieked into their ear. 'Gah!' cried Regular Sized Rudy clutching his chest and started to breath quickly as if he was having another asthma attack. Reaching for his inhaler he quickly gave himself two puffs of whatever was in there before turning to face her. 'Louise!' he cried upset.

'Come on Rudy your trying to get into the CIA or something, shouldn't you be prepared in case someone crazy tries to attack you from behind' Louise said as she settled into the sand, in-between Jessica and Ollie.

'I'm studying to be a forensic scientist Louise, not training to be part of the Secret Service. I'm pretty sure that some crazy person won't be sneaking up to attack me – other than you that is' Rudy said in an upset voice. 'Ah relax Rudy, you weren't my first choice for a sneak attack but I couldn't sneak up on either of the twins without one of you noticing me' Louise assured him 'besides at least with them I don't have to worry about accidentally causing their deaths.'

'Great to see you care so much then,' Rudy muttered but he was smiling a little. Her relationship with Rudy was always like that; while Louise used the Pesto twins as pawns for her crazy schemes, Rudy was always her partner in the crime, way too important to be forced to handle the measly grunt work. He was often on the frontlines with Louise causing the chaos – and his position as a hall monitor meant people never suspected he'd be causing the trouble. Jessica had served the group well as their alibi in case they were ever spotted. Louise was proud to say that because of her leadership abilities and the others actually obeying her and rarely messing up, out of the eight years they've been pulling pranks and causing general chaos, they've only gotten caught a handful of times.

'Anyway underlings, how are things going for you since we last met' Louise asked the Pesto twins as she began to prepare a s'more.

'She's talking about us Andy!'

'Yeah she is Ollie!'

'Do want to tell her Andy?'

'I want to tell her with you Ollie!'

'Let's tell her together!

'Yeah!'

'Yeah!'

Louise only half-listened to the Pesto's as they continued their crazy talk. At nineteen they were still joined at the hip and never did anything without the other. She remembered during a prank the five of them were pulling in their junior year when thanks to the damn Logan Barry Bush they were busted by the cops and led down to the police station; Andy and Ollie had a meltdown because they tried to put them into separate cells. The screaming and the crying and the banging continued until Sergeant Bosco – who couldn't stand the noise any longer let the two boys share a cell, where they immediately calmed down, much to the relief of everyone present in the police station. They were currently working as the co-anchors of the morning show 'Get on Up' on their local news station. The producer decided to bring it back with them presenting it after a video of them doing a comedy act together in their senior year went viral. They were actually pretty good to be honest and the audience loved them. On their very first show; the day after graduation they ended bringing a lot of business into the restaurant when they accidentally declared that Bob's Burgers was a way better restaurant than Jimmy Pesto's. That particular comment had gotten them kicked out of home and they spent the first week of summer at Louise's until they got a place of their own.

'Brilliant' the twins blurted out together. 'People keep stopping us on the street telling us how great we are and wanting to take pictures with us, and –' 'Ok, ok, I get it, hugely popular' Louise said holding up a hand for silence, 'I meant is your dad speaking to you again?'

At that the twin's faces fell a bit. 'Not yet' Andy admitted, 'but Jimmy Jr came over yesterday and said that Dad is finally acknowledging that we exist, so progress!' 'Yeah progress!' Ollie said looking delighted.

Louise then felt a twinge of a feeling that Tina called sympathy in her chest for her friends. She knew Jimmy Sr was a bad father, but even she didn't expect him to kick his sons out over a tiny slip up. She remembered when her Dad and brother got their own cooking segment on the show. They developed a bitter rivalry which was going to tear the family apart had her mum not intervened and Bob and Gene fixed their relationship before it was too late. Her Dad had once told her that as parents it was their job to look out and care for her and her siblings no matter if they screw up. Hell, her dad had even forgiven her when she told everyone he made his burgers out of human remains and again when she let Darryl practice his magic tricks in the restaurant when it was full of elderly people, resulting in giving several of the customer's heart attacks and them suing Bob. Maybe it was because she knew her parents cared for her and her siblings where all she ever saw Jimmy Pesto care for was his business, but what the twins did it was an accident. An accident that happened over a year ago now. They should at least be talking civilly to each other by now, but instead due to Jimmy Pesto being a giant jerk, his oldest son and loyal barman had only just managed to get him to say his youngest son's names.

Louise looked at the twins with pity. Maybe they shouldn't hold out any hope that their father will forgive them anytime soon.

'Anyways' Jessica said, eager to steer the evening away from doom and gloom, 'what have you been up to since summer started Louise? We've barely seen you at all!'

'Oh I've been working, good news I've almost got enough for tuition, so probably two to three more weeks and I can start working less hours' Louise said stretching her arms as her s'more started to cook near the fire's embers.

'Does that mean we can go around causing mayhem again?' Rudy asked. 'The last time we went out was in April during Easter; it's July now and I'm bored.'

'Geews Rud' Louise said with a smirk, 'you actually want to cause trouble. If my parents or Mr Frond or basically any figure of authority could hear you they'll claim I've corrupted you.'

'You corrupted me ever since the very first day we met on that field trip to the museum in fourth grade, remember? You convinced to go the closed Amazon room and ditch my bag resulting in me having an asthma attack and almost dying. So I'll be surprised if anyone wants to start complaining now; I mean they had ten years to do so.'

Louise was left speechless. Honestly what was it with people making her speechless recently? First Tina, then Jocelyn and now Rudy. 'Geez Rudy, you make it sound like you would be better off without me' Louise said, diving in to rescue her s'more before it became a melted blob.

'Ah that's not true Louise. Well I'll probably be better off health wise, but my life would be so less interesting without you in it' Rudy said, his eyes shining with happiness. Louise smirked as she bit into her s'more, the marshmallow gooeyness going everywhere.

'Geez guys, will you just get a room already?' Jessica asked, starting to roast a corndog. Louise then choked on her s'more, while Rudy started to get short of breath again and needed another few puffs of his inhaler again before he could calm down.

'God Jessica when I agreed to this I didn't know you'll turn into my mother, asking me questions about my love life. What about you by the way? Any special guys in your life?' Louise grilled and was delighted when her friend turned as red as her hair. 'No actually, my love life is emptier than Jimmy Pesto's restaurant after the twins comment on 'Get on Up!'' Jessica said.

'Is anyone going to forget that?' the twin's chorused. 'Nope' Louise assured them; not keeping her eyes off Jessica. She knew her friend well enough to know when she was hiding something. And Jessica was definitely hiding something. But Louise wasn't going to grill her for information in front of the boys. Being the only girls in their group, they had a secret set of rules for when they were talking about 'girl stuff' and potential secret boyfriends fell under that category. She knew she couldn't pry it out of Jessica with Rudy and the twins present so she would have to leave it for now.

'Hey Louise' one of the twin's asked as Louise turned her attention back to her now lukewarm s'more. 'Yeah Andy?' she asked absent-mindly.

'I'm Ollie.'

'Close enough.'

'Aren't you supposed to be at your weekly family dinner? Isn't it on Sundays? I remember me and Andy were there for one.'

With an evil smirk on her face, Louise threw her now cold s'more aside and leaning over, snatched a bottle of pop out of the cooler and took a long drink, holding out the suspense before answering. 'Yeah Ollie, my parents probably still think it's going ahead but my siblings and I know that's not happening. I've also decided to put my plan into getting the restaurant into action.'

'What?' Rudy wheezed looking shocked, as he was the only person Louise had told her plan to; 'you said you wouldn't do put that plan into action until the year before you graduate!' 'Yeah I had second thoughts Rud,' Louise explained 'a year wouldn't give me enough time to execute it properly, I'll still be waiting even after I graduate; if I start now by the time I graduate the restaurant will basically be mine.'

'What are you talking about Louise? Spill, now' Jessica ordered.

Louise then weighed her options out. She'd tell them her plan and get more people involved than she'd liked or she kept quiet and they'd spend the rest of the night bothering her. In the end she picked option A as she could use the extra help in pulling it off and if it all went south, it would probably be better to hide out in someone's who wasn't family. 'Ok I'll tell you' Louise said, 'but you got to swear on the life of the person you care about most in the world not to tell another living soul.' After they all swore, Louise looked around for any outsiders who might be listening in before leaning closer. 'Alright the thing is -'

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Meanwhile on the other side of town in a fancy restaurant, Tina was having an amazing time on her date with Josh. They caught up properly, found out any new interests the other had and shared funny stories from their past. 'Wait, wait a sec' Josh laughed, wiping tears from his face, 'your sister stole a bunch of fire extinguishers and strapped to the back of her bike to see if could go fast enough to ride on water because she saw something similar happen on 'The Simpsons'?'

'Yeah' Tina said with a tiny smile, 'her reasoning was if she went as fast as Bart did, she wouldn't sink to the seabed and most likely make it to Kings Head Island.'

'Did it work?' Josh asked curious.

'Kinda' Tina replied 'she was actually able to ride on top of the water, but she only got twenty meters from the shore when the extinguishers ran out and she went under. Dad had to go in after her and her bike was destroyed. And she had only got it the week before.' Josh then started to laugh and Tina joined in, because even though it happened almost seven years ago, it was still hilarious: from her sisters crazy reasoning, to the event happening in question, to the police turning up to question Louise over the stolen fire extinguishers.

'Oh my God' Josh wheezed, trying to catch his breath, 'your life sounds crazy!' 'It is a tiny bit' Tina admitted, because the truth was her family did get themselves into some crazy situations over the years (mostly due to Louise), but it did lead to some good stories.

'I'm really glad you agreed to this Tina' Josh smiled reaching for her hand which was resting on the table. 'Yeah me too' Tina smiled intertwining her fingers with Josh. The two smiled enjoying their moment together, unaware that someone was watching their every move.

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Douglas couldn't believe the scene before him. He was walking down the street, when he spotted through the window of a restaurant: Josh having dinner with some mystery girl. Actually to be honest though, she looked familiar. Entering the restaurant he moved quickly to the bar which was pretty close to where Josh and his mystery date were and proceeded to eavesdrop on the pair. Judging by how Josh was laughing, the girl was obviously telling him some sort of funny story. Ordering a drink, he then continued to listen in on the date. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but as Josh's friend it was his job to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. He also knew that Josh shouldn't really be dating right now, it was too soon.

Douglas kept his back to the couple as Josh was facing in his direction. All he could get from the mystery girl was that her name was Tina and she had a sister who did crazy things. Where did he meet this girl? He knows he met her before but his mind kept drawing a blank space about when and where he met her which was incredibly annoying. After the duo was quiet for about a minute, Douglas risked a glance around. Josh and the mystery girl were looking into each other's eyes and then slowly Josh leaned over the table to his date, his eyes closing and his lips just about to meet hers, when Douglas decides to make his presence known.

Grabbing his drink he sauntered over to the couple just before they could lock lips. The girl sensing they weren't alone backed out of the kiss and looked up. Now that he had a full view on her face he still couldn't place where he had seen her. It was beyond annoying. 'Hello there' he said and was a bit surprised at how coldly it sounded. No need to be a huge jerk, he thought sluggishly. 'Douglas' Josh said. If Douglas had been a bit less preoccupied he probably would have noticed that Josh was shooting him daggers and that he was giving him tiny hand gestures to leave. But Douglas took no notice and stayed put.

'Oh Douglas hey it's been a while' Josh's date said. Douglas squinted his eyes a bit desperately trying to figure out where they met before; the minutes started to tick by and the girl was obviously getting uncomfortable 'do I know you?' Douglas asked finally breaking the silence. 'Um not really. I mean we met when we were teenagers when I was dating Josh back then. I'm Tina. Tina Belcher, Josh and I met at Fresh Feed and he invited me to your school dance, remember?' Once Douglas's mind had thrown up a memory of an awkward girl wearing plain clothes in his mind, protectiveness immediately erupted inside of him even more. Josh shouldn't be dating; it was only three months since the incident. It was too soon and it wasn't fair to him or his date. How was he going to get rid of Tina before either party got seriously hurt? Well only one thing to do.

'Josh, Josh, Josh, I'm disappointed in you. You've only been back for a week and you're already trying to pretend that Amy never existed' he said, biting the bullet. 'Who's Amy?' Tina asked confused while Josh was starting to shoot daggers at Douglas. 'Oh she was his long-term girlfriend of six years. They were getting married, had an amazing life together, stared in a ton of musicals on Broadway. They were totally in love. Had the perfect life. But tragedy struck the young lovers. Amy was killed in a hit and run three months ago. Josh quit his job and was wallowing around up there for months before I convinced him to leave the city and start fresh somewhere else' Douglas admitted, hoping he wasn't destroying his friendship with Josh.

Tina was staring at Douglas speechless while Josh looked like he wanted to be hit by a truck. Or that he wanted Douglas to be hit by a truck, Douglas wasn't sure which. Tina then stood up from her chair, her cheeks flushing red and grabbed up her bag and jacket. 'Tina wait' Josh cried causing several diners to glance over to where they were, but Tina interrupted him. 'No Josh, just no. I'm incredibly sorry about what happened to you it must have been hell for you, but I can clearly see now that I'm just a rebound girl. And I'm not looking for a short fling, I want a proper relationship. Maybe in a few months or years even once you've gotten over Amy, maybe we could have a relationship. But not now it'll only end badly and neither of us deserves that.' And with those words hanging in the air around them, Tina Belcher walked out of the restaurant and into the warm July night.

Relief then flowed through Douglas. That was until Josh hit him and the relief was replaced with pain. 'Ow Josh!' Douglas cried. 'Thanks a lot' Josh snarled as he threw a couple of notes onto the table and stalked out of the restaurant with Douglas right after him. 'Josh wait stop!' Douglas cried, trying to stop his friend before he did something stupid. Josh then turned and rounded on Douglas his eyes brimming with rage. 'Why'd you do that, huh?!' Josh yelled. 'For the first time in months I was enjoying myself, I actually believed that I could move on from Amy and you go and destroy it!'

'What was I supposed to do?' Douglas yelled back. 'I know you miss Amy; I do too but it's obvious that you're just using Tina as a rebound. That isn't fair to either of you! It's only been three months, it's ok to avoid relationships, it's okay to be upset, come on if you walked into that relationship lying about Amy's existence and why you came back here then the whole thing would have blown up in your face and hurt a lot more! Amy wouldn't want you acting like this Josh, come on!'

And as if he flicked a switch, Josh's face crumpled. He collapsed in the middle of the sidewalk and started to sob. Huge, chest heavy sobs. Douglas knelt down beside him and patiently waited for Josh to become calm enough to speak. 'I - miss - her -Douglas so -much!' Josh gasped out between sobs. 'I know Josh, I know, it's ok to be upset, but probably not in the middle of the sidewalk where we can get mugged. Come on let's get you home.' Douglas muttered, helping Josh to his feet. As he began to help his heart-broken friend home his mind flashed quickly to Tina. He'd have to find out from Josh where she lived or worked and go apologise for what happened. He didn't like her much when he was younger but he felt sorry for her. She clearly had no clue about Amy and was upset about being used as a rebound when she wanted something serious. At least Douglas was able to intervene before someone (probably Josh) ended up hurt. Thanking every God he knew that he convinced Josh to move back to Seymour's Bay where him and his family could keep an eye on him; he then concentrated on helping his heart-broken friend home and moving on with his life after Amy.

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'Wait a sec' Louise said holding up a hand for Tina to stop talking. 'He only wanted to go out with you because he was on the rebound from his dead girlfriend?'

Tina nodded, sighing a bit as she continued 'yeah, it's really bad as I really did like Josh, but I'm glad that Douglas told me, otherwise the whole thing would have been a huge mess.' She thought back to a hour and an half ago when she was about to leave for the suppliers with Louise when Douglas came by to apologise for what happened last night. After explaining that he was just worried about Josh and that he had nothing against Tina, she forgave him for what happened last night, before running out to her car where an impatient Louise was honking on the horn.

Now as she was walking around the wholesaler, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed that Josh was using her like that. Before then she had thought of him as kind, quirky, and above all not a user (unlike other dancers she knew).

Louise stared at Tina as they walked around getting various supplies for the coffee shop. She looked so down; maybe she shouldn't have tried to set Tina up with Josh and should have just given her the chocolates. Well it was too late to give her the chocolates now, Louise had ate them for breakfast this morning, before she had got to the coffee shop and found out how the date went.

Tina then jolted Louise out of her thoughts 'anyway how did mum and dad take us not going to dinner? Are they mad?'

Louise then shook her head. 'Well they were a bit upset, but they got over it quickly enough' she said.

That was a massive lie. Her parents had flipped. When Louise had snuck into her bedroom at half-past midnight last night, her parents were furiously waiting for her there. As they weren't able to get hold of Tina or Gene and her Mum hadn't checked her Facebook, they thought something had happened. It took an entire hour to convince her parents that Linda had let them off the family dinner what with Bob refusing to believe that Linda would do that and Linda didn't remember giving permission either. Once Louise had shown her parents the fake messages they reluctantly believed them and turned on each other. It was at that point that Louise chucked them out of her room. The next morning was full of tension as her Mum was a tiny bit suspicious about those messages (another side effect of her crazy diet was she was more paranoid), so Louise was actually relieved to go to work.

'That's good' Tina said quietly as she picked up some flour, 'I was really worried that they'd be mad.'

Louise then waved her hand. 'Ah their not too mad they just want us all there next week – no excuses.'

Tina nodded and opened her mouth to reply when a voice rang out 'Hey if it isn't TB!' a tall muscular man them made his way over to the sister's. Louise's mouth then dropped open at said person. He may not have grown much since she last saw him (he was around Tina's height), but he was much more muscular if that was even possible. All in all though she'd recognise Zeke anywhere.

'Hey girl! Long-time no see! Whatcha been up to?' Zeke asked walking over to the girls. 'Oh not much' Louise said shortly. 'I didn't know you were still living around here Zeke; I've barely seen you since your graduation.'

'Yeah' Zeke laughed. 'I'm working as head chef in that new restaurant on the other side of town. The Cream Supreme, have you heard of it?'

'Yeah' Tina said actually getting involved in the conversation now much to Louise's surprise considering her history with Zeke 'you get amazing reviews all the time. I heard even celebrities dine there.'

'Yeah' Zeke laughed. 'Our food is really popular. Say why don't you go over there on Thursday? We're having a European dish night then. I reckon I can get you guys half off your meal. What do you say?'

'Uh sure!' Tina said. 'Really?' Zeke asked hopefully which made Louise turn her full attention towards him and looked him over with curiosity; Tina however remained oblivious to the hopeful look on Zeke's face. 'Yeah, I heard good things about that place; I think it'd be nice to go there with Gene or Phoebe. Well I gotta go; I need to get back to the coffee shop. See you.' 'Bye Zeke' Louise said glancing at Zeke with a 'don't even think about it' look in her eyes. Zeke however just stood there even after the Belcher sisters had turned a corner and disappeared. Then a large grin slowly settled onto his face and he went about getting what he needed for the restaurant a lot more cheerfully then he originally was.

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Zeke couldn't believe his luck. He didn't really believe in God or an afterlife, but now he was seriously considering that God existed and was determined to help him out. He hadn't seen Tina Belcher in years, well he caught glimpses of her around town but they hadn't come face to face. He tried going up to her at graduation to wish her luck in college, but she avoided him throughout the whole ceremony. Probably to make sure she didn't bump into J-Ju. Now that situation was a right mess.

Zeke had always liked Tina. A lot, ever since they first met in fourth grade. But Tina was always interested in his best friend. Why Zeke wasn't entirely sure. Even though J-Ju was his best friend and he cared about him, for as long as he could remember he had always treated Tina really badly. One moment he was interested in dating her, the next he couldn't even remember her own name, even though they lived on the same street ever since they were born. Now J-Ju was his best friend and he did help him from time to time in trying to win Tina back, but he couldn't help but wish that she'd realise there was a guy who liked her a lot more then J-Ju did. Hell, he _loved_ her. He always knew he had a crush, but since the 'Mad Pooper' fiasco he'd realised his feelings ran deeper than that. And ever since then he tried to tell Tina about his feelings, he even told her they'll be getting _married_ one day but she thought he was just being grateful for helping him steal the mascot uniform so he could visit his grandmother before her surgery.

He sighed when he thought about the time when Tina stopped even acknowledging he existed altogether. Ever since high school started and Tina and Jocelyn dated (he always thought that those two were straight, but it wasn't his place to judge) J-Ju started to spread really bad rumours about Tina around. He wasn't really successful as Tammy wasn't around to make sure that everybody heard, so he switched tactics by telling whoever Tina was dating really humiliating stories of her from when they were growing up. Zeke wasn't really sure what benefit his friend was getting out of this and when he asked all J-Ju said was that it was payback for stringing him along. It took every ounce of willpower Zeke had not to point out that Tina had never strung him along, it was always the other way around or to hit J-Ju for being a huge jerk. He chose not to because J-Ju was his best friend and he thought his crush would disappear as quickly as it came. But he still felt incredibly guilty as Tina was never mean to him; she had always treated him and J-Ju kindly; that was until Halloween junior year.

It was the day they broke up for Halloween and he was in the music room, listening to J-Ju bad-mouth her to her current boyfriend (Carl? Christian? He knew it began with a C) when a furious Tina barged in, having overheard every word. She slapped J-Ju so hard that the print was still visible on his face for the entire break, before screaming at him. After she had finished her rant on J Ju she rounded on him, Zeke prepared himself for a slap, but was shocked and heart-broken when he saw the tears in her eyes. 'Why?' she asked tearfully. 'Why would you help him with this? I thought we were friends Zeke.' Those words tore at him and he wanted nothing more than to proclaim his innocence but he knew she wouldn't believe him. He was caught at the scene of the crime with J-Ju and there wasn't much he could say in his defence.

After that Tina didn't even acknowledge his existence and that hurt him a lot. J-Ju carried on like he hadn't done anything wrong, but Zeke knew Tina's family went and got revenge for her. Andy and Ollie had told him that Louise had destroyed every single one of their brother's dance music and Zeke suspected that they had helped her with that. Gene didn't even look in his direction during his last two years at Huxley High and Zeke suspected that some of the crueller songs he wrote were badmouthing him and J-Ju. He even lost Jocelyn's and Darryl's friendship to boot. He'll admit they were more Tina's friends than his; but they were really good mates and were tons of fun to be with. But once they heard about what happened, Jocelyn pretty much threatened him never to speak a bad word about Tina again or she'll ruin his life, while Darryl would barely speak two words to him at all and told him to find a new math tutor. The rest of high was pretty much awful. And he only had himself to blame for not stopping J-Ju at the start.

Still he consoled himself as he went to pay for what he got; Tina had actually spoken to him and said she'll come to his European Dish night at the restaurant. Maybe there was a chance she had forgiven him for his role (however small) in the J- Ju fiasco. Maybe just maybe they could mend their friendship.

 **And that's chapter 3!**

 ***DMC - means Deep Meaningful Conversation in text speak it sounds like something Gene would say**

 ****The Red White and Brew is an actual bar in America**

 **1\. What do you think of the characters so far? (mostly Phoebe, Jocelyn, Josh, Douglas, Rudy, Andy, Ollie, Jessica and Zeke) I've tried to keep them as close to as they are in the series, but some characters are only in it for an episode or they aren't really developed (Douglas, Josh, Jocelyn) so I had to go with what I think they'll be like.**

 **2\. Is there any character that you want to see more of or to enter the story at some point. They can be a kid or adult from the show or one of my OC's. I have a general idea about where the story is going but feedback will help me decide what characters to involve more with the Belcher kids.**

 **To any Josh x Tina or Jimmy Jr x Tina fans out there, sorry but I am a Zeke x Tina fan so that will be one of the main ships in this story (there'll be other ships too, but it'll be the relationship the kids in the show has not the adults) also I don't think Tina and Jimmy Jr would have made a good couple as he does act like a jerk to her, while we don't know enough about Josh as he was only in the show for two episodes.**

 **4\. Josh fan's though don't worry I do have plans for him further in the story this won't be the last time you see him.**

 **That's it for now, I'm not sure when the next update will be up, but I'll try to have it up sooner. Please review so I know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I finally updated! It's a bit shorter than the last chapter as it mainly centres on what happens at Zeke's restaurant and is only really going to revolve around four characters (Tina, Gene and my OC's). Louise makes an appearance in the beginning though and this chapter moves the plot along so please give it a chance! As always please review so I know how to make the story better.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bob's Burgers or any of it's characters, all I own are my OC's.**

 **Chapter Four: A Table For Four And A Very Big Surprise**

Tina couldn't believe herself. She actually said that she'd go to Zeke's restaurant to try this dish theme night he was doing. Had she gone mad? Had she forgotten about Zeke's role in the Jimmy Jr fiasco? Why on earth was she going to one of her dad's competitor's? Those were the question Louise was firing at her all the back from the wholesaler. Every time she answered one question, five wore would fall out of her sister's mouth, until Tina honked the horn to get her sister to pipe down.

'Louise enough already! Just let me speak' Tina said. 'I don't know why I said I'd go, it was just I was upset about the whole Josh thing and I heard amazing things about the place – customers are always talking about how it has the best food in town and I was just thinking for one minute maybe I could have a nice night out with my friends and not think about anything other than having fun!'

'Yeah I know how that feels Tee' Louise said gently, 'sometimes I feel years older than what I really am and I know how great it is to just act your age with your friends for a little while. But this is Zeke we're talking about. He's just as bad as Jimmy Jr. Don't you remember what they were doing to you in high school? And now you want to go to his restaurant?'

'Yeah but what's he going to do? He can't exactly badmouth his customers can he?' Tina said with a small smile. 'Maybe; hey why don't Gene and I come along with you? And if Zeke even thinks about pulling another stunt like that he'll be meeting the full force of my fists' Louise offered holding up one fist for visual aid. Tina gave her sister a small smile, 'thanks Louise but you don't have to come if you don't want to.'

'Hey' Louise said in a stern voice, 'we're Belchers. Belchers stick together.' Tina gave her a smile as they pulled up outside the coffee shop and started to unload their supplies. While Louise was dumping them in them in the storeroom Tina went up front to relieve Abby from working the counter. Just then Phoebe's long-term boyfriend Robbie came into the shop on the phone to someone. He gave Tina a nod hello but continued to yell at whoever was on the other end of the line.

'No, NO! I made that reservation six months ago; you can't just say it's not written down! Come on that's unacceptable, now you listen here – no I don't want a booking for next month, I had one for Friday and - hello?' with a huge groan Robbie slumped his head down onto the counter and kept groaning. He sounded a lot like Tina when he did that.

'What's the matter Rob?' Tina asked gently. 'Do you know that restaurant the Cream Supreme?' Tina nodded in reply. 'Well a couple of months ago I made a booking for this Friday for mine and Phoebe's anniversary and they said ok, but when I phoned just there to confirm the table they said they didn't have anything written down! I mean come on! How they can screw that up I don't know! Now I don't have anything to do for mine and Phoebe's anniversary' Robbie groaned in despair.

At that moment Louise decided to make her appearance. 'Well Robbie' she said as she jumped onto the counter and gave him a smirk. 'I believe we have the answer to your problem.'

'How?' Robbie asked suspiciously. It was always wise to be suspicious when Louise gave a smirk like that. 'Well Tina happens to know the head chef at the Cream Supreme and he invited us to this European dish night their doing on Thursday. I'm sure that we'll be able to bring you and Phoebs along as well. If you don't mind us being there with you. Or that it's on a Thursday instead of a Friday.'

Robbie was silent for a few moments and he actually seemed to be considering the offer; finally he turned towards Louise, looked her dead in the eye and asked 'you're not going to be there are you?'

Louise paused and considered it for a second before shaking her head in response. 'Alright then' Robbie said clapping his hands together. 'Who else is coming?' he asked Tina. 'Uh me and probably Gene' Tina replied.

'Well I guess that'll be alright' Robbie admitted. 'Ok' Tina said, unlocking her phone, 'Louise, mind the counter. I need to phone Gene and book that table. Will six be alright Robbie?' she asked him. 'Sure' Robbie said with a wave of his hand, 'I'll take whatever I can get.'

'Great, now that that's settled Robbie, order a drink or get out now' Louise demanded 'you're holding up the queue.'

'Louise!' Tina cried annoyed. 'What it's true!' Louise argued, waving her arm to show that three more people had formed a line behind Robbie waiting to order.

'Ok, I'll take a black coffee to go' Robbie said flinging some cash onto the counter and stepping aside to let the next person order. Louise then started to tackle the queue, while Tina went into the storeroom to phone both Gene and the restaurant. It took ten minutes before she came out; (Louise was just about to chuck Robbie out of the shop he was annoying her so much; the only thing that stopped her was the fact that he was Tina's friend and she didn't want a repeat of the Frond incident) confirming a table for four at 6:30.

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The Cream Supreme had a reputation for the best. Situated in the centre of town, with big spotlights shining into the night, a red carpet leading from the street into the building and the interior was designed by the best designers and architects around. In every category of the establishment, it was the best. Their food was the best, their service was the best and they only served the best. They only way to get a table there was to be among the rich sector in town, a famous actor/model/etc. or are good friends with a member of staff.

It was option three that got them their table that night. Not a dinky little table in the corner though, a large spacious one by the window. The white tablecloths were pristine and there wasn't a single crease in sight, the napkins were folded to a 'T', the cutlery shone and looked heavier than the table itself and the glasses shone like crystals.

It would be magic if Robbie would stop grumbling.

'I can't believe they actually gave my reservation away to some rich snob who thinks that just because their daddy or granddaddy made a couple of bucks in their time, it gives them the right to act like their better than us. I mean –'

'Is this my anniversary present Rob?' Phoebe inquired, 'you showing me what our relationship will be like ten years down the line? If it is I think I better jump ship now.'

'Ah Phoebs, don't worry that's not what our relationship will be like ten years from now' Robbie assured her. 'Yeah that's what your relationship will be like twenty years down the line!' Gene added.

'Oi' Robbie snapped annoyed, before turning his attention back to his girlfriend, 'don't worry Phoebs, I promise tonight will be perfect.' 'Well it might be if you stopped complaining for five minutes' Phoebe teased him, with a smirk on the corner of her lips. Robbie's lips produced an identical smirk before leaning over to kiss her. In the back of her mind Tina wondered why agreeing to go out to dinner with a couple celebrating their anniversary was a good idea.

Maybe it was because she wanted to see that true love did exist. That it could survive any obstacle. To assure herself that even if her love life was a mine field at the moment, she'll find the one soon. Robbie and Phoebe were the perfect example. They were the couple that nobody expected to last a month, now they've been dating for eight years now. Living proof that no matter what happens to you in life, love will find a way.

Tina actually remembers quite well how their relationship began too. It was their freshman year in Huxley High. Phoebe - who had joined Wagstaff the year before after she had moved to Seymour's Bay to live with her gran – and Tina were walking through the student car park, trying to get to the main school building, when a car came speeding out of nowhere and nearly ran them over. Once the car was parked, Phoebe immediately ran over and flung her school bag at it, causing a massive dent in the driver's door. At that the owner of the car came out of the vehicle and was none other than Robbie O'Donovan. The two immediately entered a screaming match about who was at fault – Robbie for almost knocking down her and Phoebe or the girls for walking so close to the middle and Phoebe causing a dent in Robbie's brand new car. Over the next few weeks the arguing turned into playful banter, which turned into flirting, which turned into Robbie asking Phoebe on a date. Tina, Darryl and Jocelyn (who by that time had come out and was 'dating' Tina) were all pretty surprised by the development. Linda – who was convinced that she got physic powers for real this time – predicated the relationship would last a month before one of them murdered the other.

But Robbie and Phoebe actually managed to make the relationship work. Despite the fact that the entire school was waiting to see them have an epic break up and the year and a half age difference, there was no problem that they couldn't overcome together. They were the perfect high school couple. Even after Robbie graduated and Phoebe still had to complete her senior year they never let that get in the way. And straight after Phoebe graduated she went straight into the O'Donovan's garage and began training as a mechanic as well as working as their receptionist. And for the past three years now the couple were basically running the place all by themselves as Robbie's older brother Matthew had moved to Dallas after he got a job as an accountant in Robbie's senior year and Robbie's dad Jack had suffered a stroke leaving him paralysed down one side and unable to help.

Yeah, Tina thought enviously as she tried to avoid the couple's making out, there's someone out there for everyone. 'Excuse me lovebirds' Gene said interrupting their moment together, 'I'm going to use the little men's room, nobody touch those breadsticks while I'm gone!'

'Here, I'll go with you,' Robbie said, rising out of his seat. The moment the two boys were out of sight Tina turned to Phoebe with a confused look on her face. 'Huh' she said.

'What's wrong?' Phoebe asked while taking a sip of her water. 'That's like the third time they've gone to the bathroom in the past ten minutes' Tina said 'haven't you noticed? And their only on their first drink. It's not like they drank a gallon of water each.'

'Come to think of it, they have been acting strangely' Phoebe said suspiciously. 'I thought Rob was just upset because they forgot his reservation, I hope he's not going to do anything stupid. I just want to have a nice dinner with my friends and boyfriend.'

Tina gave her a small smile. 'At least you have a boyfriend' she said a little sadly. She had told her friends on Monday what had happened on the date and it hadn't gone down too well. Her friends had switched emotions every five seconds: from shock for Tina after the date reveal, to anger for Josh for stringing her along and lying about why he really came back, to over-whelming sadness for him when they found out what he had been through recently. By the end of it opinions were divided over whether to go find Josh and yell at him for the way he treated Tina, to going and giving him a hug. At the end Tina had managed to convince them not to do either, as Josh didn't know any of them and he probably wouldn't want them knowing his private life.

Just as Phoebe opened her mouth to reply, the boys made their reappearance. 'So' Gene asked as they sat back in their seats, 'what's the topic of conversation?'

'Uh just about all the different food this place is doing. I think they must have a different national dish from every country in Europe' Tina lied badly.

'That'll be like twenty-seven dishes' Robbie pointed out. 'Well they'd probably be going all out' Phoebe argued on her behalf. 'They've clearly gone on out all tonight.'

It was true. The interior of the restaurant was covered in the flags of the different member states in Europe. They have giant boards with pictures of the dishes up on them and specially printed menu's with national dishes on them. The waiters all greeted them in one of the languages used in Europe (theirs had greeted them in Spanish) and were able to talk about any member state and its history culture and tourist attractions in great detail if asked. They knew that because Gene had the waiter telling them about Michelangelo's 'David' for five minutes, before Robbie got him to shut up and they ordered their food.

'Yeah I bet they made their staff study each country in detail and take exams just to make sure that they knew everything in case a customer asked' Phoebe said, munching on a breadstick. 'They didn't do that good a job' Gene scoffed, 'the guy who was taking our orders, kept repeating himself; I barely got any information out of him.'

'I'm sure they weren't studying the anatomy of a giant hunk of marble in too much detail, Gene' Robbie said indifferently. Gene looked like he was about to have a heart attack at that remark, but fortunately at that moment the waiters decided to appear with their food and the boys decided to leave the conversation about art alone for a while.

But the meal was far from peaceful, every few minutes the boys would find a new reason to sneak off. It was ruining the atmosphere of the meal and Tina could tell that Phoebe was starting to lose her temper. This probably wasn't how she was envisioning her anniversary dinner. It wasn't until they were setting their dessert down in front of them and the boys tried to sneak off again that Phoebe finally lost it.

'What is with you tonight?!' Phoebe shrieked, causing everyone in the restaurant to turn and look at them in annoyance. Tina wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. Robbie looked shocked at her outburst and Gene quietly snuck away from the table.

'I –I don't know what you're talking about' Robbie bluffed.

'Oh yeah' Phoebe challenged 'you've been acting weird all week, you been sneaking off here every five minutes and ruining our anniversary dinner. You've barely been able to stay for five minutes without making up some excuse to leave the table. Hasn't he Tee?'

Tina immediately looked up alarmed. 'Please don't get me involved' she said worriedly.

'Well come on Robbie, an explanation! Why do you keep sneaking off?'

Just then Gene burst back into the main room with his trusted keyboard and started to play some loud pop song. Tina recognised it as one he was finishing up as a potential track for a new show a couple of weeks back. Almost every head then turned in his direction and Robbie took advantage of the semi-private moment to get out of his chair completely and went down on the ground in front of Phoebe.

On one knee.

Phoebe just stared at Robbie her mouth open in plain shock, as Robbie reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a box. 'Phoebe' he said, looking straight into Phoebe's eyes as he ignored the fact that every eye in the restaurant was on them, that Gene's music was way too loud and that a grumpy middle aged man looked like he was about to go up to them and kick them out for making so much noise. 'I love you and I've loved you for the past eight years, ever since we first met. You make me so happy and you were always there for me during some of the worst times of my life. You make me laugh when it seems impossible to even smile, you have the most amazing mind and I love every thought and idea that comes out of it, crazy or practical. I love that you can always cheer people up with just a few words, that you're not afraid to stand up to anyone for what you believe in, that your one of the most stubborn, strong-headed and quick-tempered girls I know. I guess what I'm trying to say is: Phoebe will you marry me?'

For a moment there Phoebe just sat there her mouth slightly open from the shock, the next moment she had leaped at Robbie, throwing her arms around his neck and screamed 'YES! YES, I'LL MARRY YOU!' And with that the entire restaurant burst into applause, some of the older ladies cooing and remising about their own marriages and engagements. Gene finally stopped playing his keyboard and the grumpy middle aged waiter just seemed relieved that the general ruckus was over.

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'Well that was pretty eventful.'

Tina and Gene were walking down the street towards their apartments. They decided to take advantage of the warm summer evening and walk. They were also saving around thirty dollars from the taxi as well.

'Yeah' Gene said, shifting the keyboard from one arm to another. 'When Robbie came to the studio on Monday I thought he was crazy! Then he explained his idea and that he wanted me to play some music for it and I just couldn't resist helping someone in love! And that piece was just waiting for its moment in the sun; I mean it is a master piece!'

'Yeah, it was really good' Tina admitted, 'and Gene?'

'Yeah Tina.'

'Why were you and Robbie always going in and out to the bathroom all the time? I mean the proposal was pretty simple, I mean all you had to do was sneak the keyboard in, sneak it out just before the proposal and bam play the song.'

'Yeah, well when we were sneaking the keyboard into the bathroom the first time around, _Robbie_ banged it on a wall and broke it. We couldn't stay too long or you two would have thought we've ditched you, so we had to go back and forth, repairing a little bit at a time. We were actually going out to check would we been able to use it for the proposal when Phoebe blew the fuse, so I had to trust that the thing still worked. And it did! It's just like Peter Pan said: 'All you need is faith and trust.''

'I think he said that for flying Gene.'

'The quote's transferrable.'

Tina gave a tiny smile. 'Yeah I'm so happy for them. I mean I had doubts about their relationship when it first began. I mean they met because Robbie almost ran us over and Phoebe dented his brand new car as revenge. And now they practically run a business together, they live together and as of this past hour, their engaged. I don't think anyone would have predicted this when they were at each other's throats.'

'Ah true love' Gene sighed. 'Someday I hope I'll meet my Robbie. Someone to sweep me off my feet.' 'You mean that you want to meet your true love after they almost run you over?' Tina asked with a tiny smile playing on her lips. 'Well I think I'd prefer if they were saving me from almost being run over; I think that'll be much more romantic. Imagine the stories that we could tell people about how we met! It'll be like something out of a movie! What about you Tee, how would you like to meet your Prince or Princess Charming?'

Tina then thought back to all the fantasy stories she wrote in her teenage years about her meeting the love of her life. Granted they all revolved around Jimmy Jr, butts, zombies and sometimes a mixture of the three, as well being in an old timey scene like 'Pride and Prejudice'. But now that she thought about it, it didn't matter if they met in a wood with birds playing sweet music and animals doing whatever she wanted. Because if there's one thing she learnt from when she was thirteen was that just because they met in a fairy-tale setting didn't make it true love. Her parents were a great example of that. Linda met Bob in a crowded stuffy bar on a night out and only because her engagement ring had gotten caught in his moustache. Yet they fell in love and twenty-seven years later their still going strong. And Robbie and Phoebe's first words to one another were insults and here they are now. So as Tina tilted her head up to the sky to stretch her neck muscles her answered Gene's question in a quiet voice 'I don't care when, where or how I meet the love of my life, Gene. All I want is for them to love me completely, weird quirks and all and not abandon me for anyone or anything.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone here's the next chapter and just to let people know that it may take longer than usual to post the next couple of chapters as on Friday I'm heading to a friends debs (the Irish version of prom) and then a couple of days after that I'm heading to my grandparents for a week or two and they don't have internet. But I will try and write a few chapters while down there and post them later. I'm also in the middle of writing a few other stories as well, you can click on my profile to read them and I am going to prioritise them by which one is more popular, so please review so I know what you think of the story so far and if there's anything you want me to add, I will see if I can fit it into the story. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five: A Summer of Pranks**

On Sunday night the whole family gathered in the living room waiting for their traditional Sunday night dinner to finish cooking. It was a bit tense to say the least. Her parents were still on rocky ground after what happened last week; with Bob angry at the kids for missing the meal and at Linda for apparently giving them permission to do so and Linda angry at Bob for thinking she'd do something like that and suspicious towards Louise as she suspected she had a hand in that. Tina and Gene who were under the impression that their parents had given them permission were a bit confused by the tension, while Louise dismissed their attitude as she had been dealing with it all week. Needless to say it was one of the tensest Belcher family meals that any one of them could remember.

'So' Tina said, in an obvious effort to diffuse the tension in the room, 'I got some news.'

'Yeah' her father said bitterly, still sulking that his children didn't care about the family's traditions as much as he did. His attitude reminded Louise of one Thanksgiving years ago when Mr Fischoeder, their landlord, got them to pretend to be his family in order to impress an old flame. He then got both drunk and mad over the fact that his family didn't care about his Thanksgiving toast and almost got shot trying to protect his turkey friend Lance. Even though Lance was already dead. And cooked, just to make sure he's dead.

'Yeah' Tina said, oblivious to the fact Bob was still in a sulk, or if she did notice, she decided to ignore him. 'Phoebe and Robbie got engaged!'

'Oh how lovely, young love! Aw Bobby, isn't that sweet?' Linda gushed, all anger and suspicion thrown out the window by something as gushy as two childhood sweethearts getting engaged. 'When did it happen? Tell me everything you know!'

As Tina and Gene told their parents about what had happened in the restaurant, Louise snuck out of the room. She already heard the story when she went into work on Friday and now that Tina had both of their parents attention, there was something she needed to do and now was probably going to be her best chance until next week which offered no guarantees.

Quickly entering the kitchen and shutting the door softly behind her, Louise then fiddled with the oven temperature until it was almost double what it should be and while the oven was preparing to roast their dinner to bits, Louise started to root through the cupboards, looking for her mum's box of protein diet shakes. If she was going to pull her plan off then she needed normal, not-on-a-diet Linda, not paranoid-light sleeper-suspicious Linda. Once Louise had located the box where her mother kept her sachets of milkshake powder, she got a knife out from the cutlery drawer and carefully prised open a floorboard, after quickly glancing at the door and listening for a second for any sound of her father's footsteps, she reached under the boards and pulled out several sachets of regular milkshakes in the same flavours her mother used. She then quickly started to replace every few diet milkshake sachet with a regular one. Can't be too obvious, Louise thought, can't give the game away before it's begun, only switch a few sachets now and you can up the dosage later. After swapping what she thought was enough, she then replaced the actual diet sachets into the hole in the ground and covered it up again. She'd get rid of those later when the house was quiet. Once she was sure that the floorboard was in the proper position, she then moved her mother's diet shake box back into the cupboard and on her way out of the room, turned the dial on the oven back to the way it was before she entered. But already she could tell that the damage had been done; the roast beef they were supposed to be having well on its way to being charred to pieces, and there was still another twenty minutes before it was supposed to be done. With a smirk playing at the corner of her lips, Louise slipped out of the kitchen and snuck quietly back to the living room, where her mother was talking about her and her dad's wedding day, nobody even noticing that she had left the room in the first place.

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The rest of the summer holidays passed by quickly for Louise. It was mainly a mixture of work, scheming to make her parents think they were going mental and prank escapades with her friends. The pranks were actually pretty good as she was able to plan what they were going to do in Seashore Bliss when it was quiet. Tina didn't mind much, and even if she did; it wasn't like she had the time to tell Louise that. For the last few weeks of summer Tina was rushed flat off her feet. From finishing the last novel which was due in by the start of September, to working behind the scenes at the coffee shop to ensure its smooth sailing, to helping Phoebe plan her wedding. Tina's schedule didn't really leave room to yell at a bunch of students for planning out prank attacks. It was because of that blessing that Louise was actually able to cause some serious damage. The highlights of her summer was when they had managed to destroy Mr Frond's car (again), cover the front of Jimmy Pesto's restaurant in silly string (the twins were nervous that it'd damage their already tense relationship with their father, but Louise had made sure that it looked like the handiwork of a local gang), cover the front of 'Reflections' with pictures of animal anuses (painted by her Aunt Gayle and caused a hilarious argument between the Cranwinkle's and Bob as the old couple were convinced that he was to blame) and her greatest achievement of the entire summer (and quite possibly her life): stealing Logan Barry Bush's clothes and car when he was stupid enough (and drunk enough) to go skinny dipping in broad daylight. The boy ended up running through the forest stark naked and wasn't paying close enough attention to his surroundings, causing himself to get caught in another one of Louise's traps which left him dangling upside down by one leg. It was a whole day before some hunters came across him and helped him out. It took two more weeks before his car was found completely submerged in water half a mile from shore and with no trace of DNA evidence that the cops could use to try and find the suspect. Logan had his suspicions of course, but Louise had an airtight alibi in the form of Jessica and there was no CCTV or DNA evidence so she was completely able to deny everything; although she didn't quite deny her involvement when pictures of Logan during that ordeal ended up online.

In all Louise felt like she had a very successful summer.

But that did not mean that she was ready to go back to college and start studying again.

'Uh why did I think that college was a good idea' Louise complained to Jessica, as they made their way across campus. 'It's just school for adults that you have to pay for.'

'Think about that degree at the end of though' Jessica said trying to look on the positive side of things. It was one of the skills she picked up from her course because as a teacher she needed to learn to look on the bright side of things. She really did need that skill when dealing with a grumpy Louise.

'Yeah you pay thousands of dollars and study your ass off for four or more years for a piece of paper that says you know a lot in a certain subject' Louise grumbled.

'Oh Louise, if you're going to be like this at least focus on something positive' Jessica complained, feeling Louise's pessimistic attitude starting to rub off on her.

'Yeah ok, Jessica your right. Hey that reminds me of something. I can't believe that I forgot to ask you over the summer, but are you seeing someone?'

Jessica stopped dead causing Louise to almost bump into her, if she hadn't stopped herself in time. Sneaking a glance at her friend, Louise was thrilled to see that she was blushing bright red, proof that she definitely was. 'N- No why w-w-would you th-think that Louise?' Jessica stammered out nervously. Grinning Louise opened her phones camera to front view and showed Jessica her reflection. 'Well first off your face is redder than your hair so that indicates something's up. Secondly you're stammering like Mr Frond just before I poured his very hot drink all over him. So spill, are you seeing someone?'

Lowering her head so her hair would hide her flaming face, Jessica quietly nodded as an answer. This sent Louise into a meltdown. 'You bitch!' she shrieked slapping Jessica on the arm with her books, 'what happened to: 'we're besties Louise, which means we tell each other everything' and here you are keeping something like this from me! Well, come on who is he?'

Jessica glanced around at the crowded campus and saw that every single person present was now staring at them thanks to Louise's shriek and shot her friend a dirty look. Realising that she wasn't about to get an answer out of Jessica right then, Louise decided to drop the matter for now. 'Well thanks for causing a scene Louise, but I got to get to class now' Jessica muttered, readjusting her bag into a much more comfortable position. 'Uh fine' Louise groaned 'but don't think that the subject of your love life is dropped missy. I will find out who you're dating to make sure that their good enough for you.'

'Oh how I look forward to that talk Louise' Jessica replied sarcastically as she set off across campus to get to her lecture on time. Rolling her eyes, Louise then turned in the direction of her lecture hall, glanced at her watch and immediately set off running. She had economics next and if she didn't get there within the next eight minutes she'd lose credits for attendance. After running across campus and shoving numerous amounts of students out of the way, she was making a new record for getting to the other side of campus within the shortest amount of time. With four minutes to go, she could see the roof of the lecture building. She quickly turned a corner skidding a bit, but due to how fast she was running, she ran straight someone who was going in the opposite direction and both people were knocked to the ground.

'Hey watch it!' Louise snapped, nursing her sore head. She was willing to bet that she'd have a bump there within an hour or two. 'Actually you should be watching it as you bumped into me. But don't worry Louise, I forgive you!'

At the sound of that voice, Louise's heart immediately stopped beating. Looking up from the pavement she locked eyes with the person she knocked down. Who happened to be someone that Louise hadn't ever expected to see again or wanted to see again. Ever in this lifetime. Dread immediately flowed through her body and when her mouth dropped open from the shock, she did the first thing she could think of.

She screamed.

Loudly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! Here's the new chapter! I'm so sorry it took so long to update but I've been really busy with school and personal issues so I had no time to write until I got off for Christmas. I'll try to be quicker updating next time, thanks for your patience. And as always please enjoy and review!**

 **Chapter Six: Red Alert, Millie Frock, I Repeat, Red Alert, Millie Frock!**

'Millie!' Louise shrieked, staring at the girl she thought had permanently left her life when she was fourteen. Millie hadn't really changed much. Her curly blonde hair was cut short and gathered up into two short pigtails. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with bunnies printed onto it and her jeans had bunnies embroided up and down the leg as well. It was her eyes that unnerved Louise the most though; they were crazy-looking and unhinged, like almost six years in a crazy ward hadn't done any good at all.

'Hi Louise!' Millie shrieked, grabbing Louise into a bone-crushing hug, 'I missed you so much, did you miss me?'

'Hardly' Louise stated bluntly. 'Last time you were near me, you kidnapped my best friend and tried to impersonate her.' That had been one of the most terrifying experiences in Louise's whole life. Millie, who had gone crazy with jealousy that Louise had a best friend who wasn't her, had kidnapped Jessica and held her hostage in her crawlspace. From there she had tried to impersonate Jessica in an attempt to finally become Louise's best friend.

Of course Louise had seen through Millie's crazy plan right away, but it had taken the police several days to find Jessica as Millie had refused to tell them where she was. Jessica eventually got out by working through her bindings and crawling to freedom. After that catastrophe, Millie had been sectioned as she was a threat both to herself and to others. Last time Louise heard, Millie was finally getting treatment for her obession with Louise, but Louise herself had been planning to be far out of Seymour's Bay (preferably in Cuba) by the time they let Millie out. But here she was back in town with that obsessive, crazy look still there in her eyes. She needed to book a ticket to Cuba _fast._

'How long have you've been out?' Lousie asked nervously. 'Two days' came Millie's simple reply. 'I'm going to enroll in an arts course! I'm going to be an artist! I also got a job at Reflections! You know that art shop? They were so eager to hire me once they found out I was an artist!'

'I can imagine' Louise muttered under her breath. Well that was decided - she was moving out and getting a restraining order. Maybe Tina or Gene wouldn't mind a roommate. 'Well Millie, this had been fun, and by fun, I mean complete torture, but I've got class to go to so bye - don't follow me' Louise cried, speeding off to her lecture, which she was five minutes late for.

Millie watched as Louise turned the corner and dashed up the steps into the building, not sparing a glance back at the other girl once. 'Yes Louise this has been fun and soon we'll be together having fun forever. Little bunny Lou-lou skipping through a forest' Millie sang manically.

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Later that night, Louise was over at Tina's after helping her sister close up the coffee shop for the night. While her sisiter was in the bathroom, she had checked out Tina's spare room. It was large - definately bigger than room at home and had a great view of town. She had chhecked out Gene's apartment, before her shift at the coffee shop, when she thought he was at work. But his spare room was cluttered with musical insturments and equipment and the place stank worse than the city dump. Hell would have to freeze over before she would ever consider staying there. At least Tina knew how to clean.

Just then Louise's train of thought was interrupted, looking up from her laptop she saw Tina returning into the room. Her sister looked exhausted. While most people would think that the reason for her exhaustion was running the coffee shop, Louise knew the real reason: Phoebe and Robbie's wedding was only three and a half weeks away and that morning the caterers had called to cancel, sending Phoebe into a meltdown. And as Jocelyn and Kim were at work and Robbie was off with Matthew getting the suits for the wedding, it fell onto Tina to calm a nearly-hysterical Phoebe down. Tina had then spent the rest of the day phoning various caterers trying to book a replacement one for the wedding. But every one they phoned was already booked for the day causing Phoebe to freak out more. After watching that soap opera unfold in front of her, Louise made a note to herself to never get married. Or be anyone's bridesmaid. It was just too much hassle.

'Ok' Tina sighed. 'October can't come quick enough.' Louise raised her eyebrows at her sister. 'Your going to hate it when its over' she pointed out. 'But it's so much stress now!' Tina cried, 'and I'm not even the one getting married!' 'Yeah' Louise laughed, 'oh and tell Phoebe that yes, I'll be coming to the wedding and no I will not be bring a date. Also, how sure are you that they want me there?'

'You're a friend of theirs Louise. Kinda' Tina muttered, 'of course they want you there. Oh and did you ask Gene about whether or not he'd DJ for the reception?'

'Yep' Louise answered. 'I was over at his place earlier on when I thought he was at work. Turns out though, he _wasn't_ at work for some reason and was not happy to see me either. But he said he'd do it and got really excited when I mentioned that they would tell him, so tell Phoebe to calm down on the crazy meter a bit.'

'That's great' Tina nodded looking relieved, 'and Louise?' 'What Tina?' Louise groaned turning her attention back to her laptop. 'What were you doing over at Gene's apartment when you thought he was at work?'

'Um- I was- I was checking out his spare room, I'm trying to move out of home' Louise admitted, not taking her eyes off her laptops screen.

'Why now?' Tina frowned, flopping down on the couch besides her younger sister. She then glanced over at Louise's laptop and her frown deepened. ''And why are you researching restraining orders?'

'Geez Tina what's with all the questions? I feel like I'm being interogated by the Secret Service' Louise snapped. Tina however, didn't take her gaze off her sister. 'Uh fine!' Louise cried. 'I ran into Millie at school.' Tina's eyebrows then disappeared into her forehead. 'Millie Frock?' she asked. 'The Millie who tried to kill us in our fort and kidnapped Jessica? That Millie?'

'Oh no Tina' Louise replied sarcastically, 'I meant the Millie who bakes cookies and isn't crazy. Of course I meant Millie Frock! And now she's enrolling at Seymour Bay CC! And working at Reflections! And I don't think those six years she spent in a crazy ward did much good!'

'Does Jessica know?' Tina asked. Louise paused in the middle of her rant, thinking. 'I'm not sure' she said finally. 'I think that if she did know she would have said something to me. I mean this does affect both of us.' 'Maybe you should go tell her. And by that I mean tell her to her face. This is face to face news, not over a text news.' 'Fine I'll go tell her' Louise moaned, getting off her comfy spot on the couch and walking to the door. 'Oh and thanks for the offer of the spare room Tee, I'll take it' she cried, running out of the flat slamming the door behind her, cutting off her sisters cries of protest over her new flatmate.

The night air was cool from the breeze coming from the sea but it was still bright enough without the streetlights for the time being. But Louise knew that in a few weeks from now it would be pitch black at this time and she would need a proper jacket, not a thin cheap hoodie if she didn't want to die from frostbite. Thankfully though Jessica only lived ten minutes away from Tina's place. After buzzing herself in, she then ran up the stairs (the lift was always out of order) up to Jessica's flat. After knocking and receiving no reply from Jessica, Louise decided to let herself in anyways. She knew Jessica wouldn't mind as she had always done it to the point where Jessica would point out that she could just have a key made for her, but Louise always turned her down. It was always good for her to practice her lock-picking skills anyways. In less than a minute the lock was picked, and Louise found herself strolling into her best mates flat.

The first thing she noticed was that all the lights were on, meaning Jessica was home. The second thing she noticed was that there was books and coats thrown all down the hall. The third thing she noticed when she walked into the living room was that Jessica was currently under some guy on her her couch making out. Thankfully both of them still had their clothes on, but by the way the guy was pulling at her best friend's shirt, if she walked in one minute later, she might have been seeing a lot more skin than she would have liked. 'Oh God! Hey you two, you've got company!' Louise cried covering her eyes.

With a shriek that sounded alot like a wounded animal, Jessica pushed her male friend off her and jumped up, pulling her shirt down as she did so. Her face was flushed and her lips looked swollen. She had a rabbit caght in the headlights look, until she regained enough composure to scowl at Louise. 'Ever heard of knocking?' she asked sarcastically. 'I did' Louise snorted, 'and when I didn't get an answer, I decided to let myself in and wait until you came home. I've got news. It's important and you're not going to like it one little bit.'

'You know Louise, I can arrest you for breaking and entering' Jessica's companion said. At the sound of that familar voice, Louise's eyes darted to her right - and her jaw dropped, joining her feet on the ground. 'DARYL!?' she shrieked, turning to face Jessica whose face was now redder than her hair. After receiving no response from her friend, she turned her attention back to the nerd who had been on top of her best friend a minute ago.

'Darly is the guy you've been seeing?' Louise asked shocked. Jessica nodded tightly, her face still scarlet. 'How long was this been going on for?' Louise added, determinded to get some answers. Admitly though, Darly looked a lot better than he had when they were younger. He had hit his growth when he was sixteen and now he was the same height as Tina. He was also more muscular, not as much as Zeke was, but Zeke was built for it. He was still the same nerd, but he now used that for stopping crime. He had joined the Police Academy after graduation, but he failed the physical test. He ability with not drawing suspicion to himself however, meant that he was recruited to join their undercover ranks. Louise wasn't exactly sure what he did now but she knew it was top secret and confidental.

'We've been seeing each other since May' Darly said, 'and we wanted to keep it low-key. Now why are you here Louise?'

'Like I said, I got news Jess' Louise said 'it's bad too. Really bad.'

'What is it?' Jessica asked warily.

'Millie's out of the crazy ward. And I don't think her spell in there helped her one little bit. Plus she's definately planning on sticking around too.'

The colour change in Jessica's face was remarkable. It went from cherry red to chalk white in three seconds flat. Her legs started to shake and she collasped onto the couch breathing heavily. Immediately Darly and Louise went to either side of her, in case she needed someone to catch her if she fainted. 'Why?' Jessica whispered. 'Why would they let her out? After what she's done? I was trapped in the walls for _four_ days. A gag around my mouth, my arms and legs bound together, not able to move at all. I went four days without food, water or even sunlight all because of that crazy girl. If I hadn't freed myself, I would have died in there. Why, why would they let her out? Why now? What changed?'

'I don't know' Louise admitted, 'but I bumped into her at college today and she's definately sticking around. She's enrolling at the college and she's got a job. I'm moving out of home and considering a restraining order, I highly recommend that you do the same.'

Just then Jessica stood up and walked out of the room, down the hall towards a closet. She quickly rummaged through it for a few seconds before pulling out a suitcase. 'Um Jess what are you doing?' Louise asked. 'I need to go' was Jessica's reply. 'What your just going to leave?' Darly asked. 'Abandon your whole life? Let her win?'

'No!' Jessica cried. 'I just need to leave here for a little while. I can't face Millie yet. I just can't.'

Louise felt her heart heave for her friend. No matter what Millie did to her, what happened to Jessica was much worse. Millie Frock was truly physiotic.

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Louise huffed out a breath as she finished packing up the last of her things into a box and taped it up. After picking up the box, and making to head out of the room, she paused at the door and looked at the now bare room. After spending almost twenty years in this room, she was now leaving it permanently. It may have been more suited to being a closet than a bedroom, but it was still her personnal sanctuary and she was sad to be leaving it. Still though, it was best if she left. She really didn't like being anywhere near Millie.

Two days had passed since she had bumped into Millie on her way to class. She hadn't seen Millie since then, but Louise had been making it her mission to avoid her. Yesterday Jessica left to stay with her Gran who lived in Altana, they hadn't talked to each other yet, but Jessica had texted her to let her know she'd arrived safely and the two girls had plans to Skype later tonight after Louise had settled at Tina's.

Telling her parnets that she was moving out was difficult. Her mum was in dramatics over her youngest 'flying the nest' while Bob got upset when Louise told him that he'd now have to hire someone to work at the restaurant, as Tina had given her a wage increase in exchange for only working at the cafe and it meant that she now had enough to pay for tution to school and other necessities such as bills and clothes. Overall it was the most emotionally draining evening of Louise's life, but both Tina and Gene had to do it so she really should have expected it.

Sighing a little, Louise then walked down the hall, down the stairs and out into the street where her parents car was parked in front of the alley beside their restaurant and house. Her Dad let her borrow his car to drive all of her stuff over to Tina's and it was all packed up and ready to go. Sliding the last box into the passenger seat, she looked down the street to where Reflections was, where Milllie was probably working right now. Sighing for probably what was the thousandth time in the past two days, she closed the passenger door, walked over to the drivers door and got in. After starting the car, she pulled into the road and drove past Bob's Burgers and Jimmy Pesto's both restaurants in the middle of their dinner rush, past Reflections as they started to close up for the night and past the pier with the lights from the rides sparkling like gems in the fading light.

However, if Louise hadn't been so caught up in her worry about Millie, if she had turned her head five centimetres to the right when she was putting the last of her things in her parents car, if she had been paying proper attention to her surroundings in general, she would have seen her brother, partially hidden behind the dumpster by the side of her house, in the middle of a make-out session with Jimmy Pesto Junior.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

Eugene Belcher was an awful person. There he said it. Gene knew he should be punished for what he was doing. For crying out loud he was dating his sister's first love/ex-boyfriend who had tried to ruin her reputation. Who was also the oldest child of his dad's biggest rival? What was wrong with him?

It wasn't that Gene deliberately set out to date Jimmy Pesto Junior though. He was well aware of the Belcher loyalty code that existed between him and his sisters and he didn't want to break it. After all, they supported him and didn't watch any shows produced by Martin or Gareth on the local tv channel after they had cheated him out of getting to produce the theme music for 'Get On Up!' and they stopped going to Cheesey's Bakery even though they made the best cream cakes ever because they told Gene that he wasn't allowed to have any more samples. They were incredibly loyal and were there for Gene through thick and thin, so what type of brother was he?

Still, Gene thought, he had tried to push Jimmy Jr. away when the boy first tried it on him. He remembered the night vividly, even though he had drunk quite a lot. It was back in June, him and Courtney had gone out to a LGBT fancy dress disco night at a bar in King's Head Island. Courtney had gone as Marilyn Monroe, while Gene was going all out as a rainbow version of Willy Wonka. Halfway into the night, Courtney had disappeared with a girl who dressed up as Cat Woman. She had thrown the key to her parents summer house at Gene and told him to help himself to the booze there and not to break anything. Knowing that he probably wouldn't be seeing his best friend until it was time for them to get the ferry back to the Wharf, Gene settled at the bar with a half-off multi-coloured drink that he couldn't really remember the name of, to scope out any cute boys.

That's when he spotted him. Jimmy Jr in the middle of the dance floor, dancing like nobody was watching. But to be honest, he always danced like nobody was watching. Even though Gene could see a few people pointing at him and laughing. He wondered if the oldest Pesto child knew or cared. Eventually, Jimmy Jr must have gotten exhausted/thirsty due to his dancing and went over to the bar. Now that Gene was up close to him, he could see that the boy wasn't wearing a costume of any sort. He wondered why the bouncer had let him in if he wasn't wearing one.

"Where's your costume?" He asked, leaning in close to the other boy's ear in order to be heard. Jimmy Jr jumped slightly, clearly startled, before turning to face him. When he saw who he was talking to his face immediately became a bit wary. Gene didn't blame him. Him and Louise didn't have the best relationship with Tina's former flame after it was revealed what he was doing behind her back. Jimmy Jr carefully dug into his pocket before pulling out a pair of sunglasses and putting them on. "I told the bouncer that I was a James Bond type of spy. I don't think he believed me but he let me in" Jimmy shrugged. "And you do know that people have been laughing at you or to be more specific, at your dancing for at least the last hour right?" He questioned. Now Gene wasn't a stranger to people laughing at him, his dress sense often got a snide comment when he was walking down the street, but Jimmy looked oblivious to what was happening in his surroundings.

The other boy shrugged in response. "Let them, I don't care, I'm dancing because it makes me happy, I didn't come here to impress them." Gene couldn't help but nod to what the Pesto boy was saying. Jimmy was a bit like Tina and her writing and him with his music when it came to his dancing. He did it because it made him happy and didn't care if it wasn't popular. "Do you want to get out of here and go talk somewhere a bit more quiet?" Jimmy asked. Now Gene blamed his alcohol soaked brain, that was still getting used to the influence of alcohol, as he had only turned twenty-one two months before, for what he said next.

"Sure."

Louise was going to kill him.

After making a stop off at the local liqour store at Kings Head Island, they ended up sitting on the beach, watching the sea roll in, as they split a six-pack of beer. The night was quiet and calm as the breeze from the sea, ruffled the Pesto boy's aurburn hair and lifted his shirt a little showing his own six-pack on his abs. At that moment, Gene could see why Tina was so obessed with him when she was thirteen. After talking about some of the crazier people at the club (laddy liberty wearing a hula skirt) and whether or not Jimmy Pesto Snr would forgive Andy and Ollie in time for Christmas (according to the younger Jimmy, it didn't look likely, his father still wasn't even admitting that he had twins), Gene decided to get some answers he was waiting for years to get.

"Look Jimmy, there's something I need to know" Gene began as Jimmy shifted on the sand. "It's about what happened with Tina in high school isn't it?" He stated bluntly. "Yeah" Gene confirmed akwardly. "I just need to know. Why?"

Jimmy refused to meet his eyes. "I don't know Gene. It's been six years and I still can't find a reason to justify what I did. It's just that something about Tina always annoyed me. It might have been my dad's influence that gave me the idea. It might have been hormones. It might have been jealously over the fact that she didn't care for me anymore and was happy. I just don't know. But it was wrong, I know that now and I deserved ten times worse then what she did to me."

"Yeah you did" Gene agreed, laying down on his back beside him, staring up at the night sky. The stars twinkled like diamonds. He remembered when Tina was reading out 'The Hunger Games' to him because she was annoyed that the films had missed several important points from the book. He remembered how one of the characters had a suit with lights in it to shine like the sky. He liked that idea, he was going to have to remember that for when he was sober and able to shop around.

"Hm" Jimmy mumered before slowly leaning down towards him. Once again Gene would like to blame his drunken brain for not realising what was happening before he was kissing Jimmy Pesto Junior. With tongue. For over a minute. And he may have been running his hands up and down his toned chest.

Screw Louise, Tina was going to kill him.

Eventually though, Gene's brain finally started working and he shoved the older boy off him and unsteadily got to his feet. "No" he mumered, "no I can't do this. It's wrong. Belcher sibling loyalty." And with that he ran off into the night. He knew that Jimmy tried to follow him but he was even drunker than Gene was and ended up collasping into the sand. Gene absentmindly hoped that the other boy would be able to get off the beach before the tide came up and drowned him. Not that he stopped and checked. He didn't stop running until he was at Courtney's parents summer home and slapping himself for what he did. His only consolation was that considering how drunk the dancer was, he might not even remember it. And nobody had seen it so there was no chance of his sister's (namely Louise) finding out. This night was just one big whole drunken mistake.

For the next few weeks he tried to avoid Jimmy, but it seemed that the universe had a different idea and kept throwing them together. At first he tried to ignore Jimmy, but whenever he was with him he felt this electric feeling pass through him. Soon the hostility turned to flirting, which turned to kissing, which led to them having sex. They were so anxious to keep it a secret. Their families rivalaries had escalated ever since the disaster between Tina and Jimmy Jnr. The only surving positive relationship between the families was Louise's friendship with the Pesto twins. But now they had this. That was probably going to cause World War 3.

Gene had no idea on how he was going to tell Tina. He couldn't just drop it into a casual conversation. But there never seemed to be the right time. Either she had gotten a fantastic new date only moments before, or she was working like a dog trying to manage the shop and finish her book, or she was helping Phoebe plan her wedding. But he knew he was going to have to tell her soon, he wanted her to find out from him and not on the grapevine. They already had way too many close calls (he almost died when Louise had come over to ask him to DJ for the wedding when him and Jimmy were in his bedroom. How she knew that he wasn't at work he'll never know). But maybe he'll tell her after the wedding. She was really looking forward to it. Let her have one more good day and then he'll tell her. Besides the wedding was only three weeks away. Him and Jimmy have been hiding this for weeks, a few more wouldn't make much difference.

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Robbie bent over the car, double-checking that he hadn't missed anything important in the check-up. Well he knew he didn't he just didn't want to leave and get sucked into the wedding crisis again. Matthew was busy calling him a jerk for not helping his fiancée (he still couldn't believe it - his _fiancée_ ) try to solve their catering crisis, while his dad looked at him in disapointment. But he did try to help. He had offered advice on a replacement venue. But Phoebe had whacked him with a wedding magazine and shouted that he wasn't going to take the situation seriously, then he had to leave. Seriously he thought it was a good suggestion. He thought she loved KFC.

Just then the sound of a car pulling to a stop outside the garage and footsteps entering the garage interupted Robbie's thoughts. Twisting around, he saw a tall, stocky boy roughly his age standing at the door. "Hey" he said, his Southern accent evident in the voice and helped him figure out who it was pretty quickly. "You busy?"

"No just finished on this one" Robbie commented, waving his arm vaguely in the direction of the finished car. "What can I do for you Zeke?"

"Somethings up with my car. I figure that it serious cause I can't seem to figure out what the hell is causing it to stop in the middle of the road. Which is not good when your on the freeway."

"Think you know cars huh?" Robbie challenged with a smirk on his face. "Know enough so I don't have to fork over cash everytime this old banger makes a funny noise" Zeke replied with a matching smirk, jerking his head over to where his beat up pick-up truck was parked. "Hey Phoebe ain't around is she?" Zeke added glancing around nervously. "No" Robbie shook his head. "She's stressing about the wedding."

He knew why Zeke was keen to avoid Phoebe, but he never held what happened in high school against him like Phoebe and her friends did. Maybe it was because he was actually good friends with Zeke unlike the rest of them who were closer to Tina. They had both been on the wrestling team in high school and often got detention together. But lately he hadn't seen Zeke around much. He knew that Zeke was working in town, but he often went out to his parents house who had moved to the countryside any chance he got to help out.

"Oh yeah, congrats by the way!" Zeke babbled. "You know the other day we had to a catering job for a wedding at the restaurant I work at and-"

Robbie didn't hear the rest of what Zeke was saying after that. His mind could only focus on one thing _'at the restaurant I work at'_ ". Moving quickly over to Zeke, he grabbed his customer by the shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "Did I just hear right? Did you just say that you work in a restaurant?"

"Yeah" Zeke nodded. "I'm the head chef at the Creme Supreme. Ever been there?" At that moment Robbie felt that God was finally allowing him to catch a break.

"Yeah. Listen Zeke I need a massive favour. Our caterer phoned and had to cancel because they were double booked and didn't realise it. The wedding is in three weeks and we have no caterer and Phoebe is getting ready to lose it. I can do whatever you want done to your car for free if you could get your restaurant to cater for one hundred and ten people in three weeks. Please we're getting desperate and Phoebe been pretty mad at me ever since I suggested going to KFC for the meal. Come on help a mate out?" Robbie babbled all in one breath.

Zeke was silent for a moment, processing the amount of information that came out of Robbie's mouth at breakneck speed. Then for a split second he hesitated and Robbie paniced. "Look if this is about Tina, I can make it that you two don't even have to be near each other."

"Tina?" Zeke asked, his full attention on the mechanic now. "Yeah she's a bridemaid" Robbie said absent-mindly, not noticing how Zeke became much more attentive and interested in their conversation. "So?" he asked hopefully, "can you do it or not?" Zeke nodded in confirmation. "Yeah just give me the type of menu you guys want and where and what time the meal is being served at and I'll work my magic. But I expect an invite to stay at the reception after."

"Sure. Thanks so much Zeke you are a life-saver" Robbie grinned relieved. "Yeah I know and Rob?" "What?" Robbie asked. "Did you really suggest going to KFC for your wedding meal?" Zeke asked baffled. "Oh shut up" Robbie muttered before excusing himself and going to the office to phone Phoebe and tell her to calm down on the search for a replacement caterer.

The second Robbie left, Zeke did a little fist pump to himself. He hadn't spoken to Tina since after they had met at the supply store and she had phoned him asking for his help in getting a reservation for the restaurant's European dish night. But now the perfect opportunity was being offered up on a sliver platter. And one way or another he was going to talk to her and get her to listen to his side of the story. He wanted her friendship back, but if he couldn't get that, he'd settle if she just knew the whole truth.

 **And that's chapter seven! Sorry it took so long. Writer's block and stuff in the real world going on. Anyway please don't forget to review!**


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